My Assassin
by C.Queen
Summary: A new group of female assassins are in the city and they're going to go head to head with Weiss and Schwarz with hilarious, romantic and violent results
1. Judgement Begins

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the Goddesses and the original characters associated with them. The rest belong to their respective owners and I own nothing but the characters stated above and the plot. Enjoy and please review to let me know what you think. 

Prologue 

It's two years after Aya-chan woke up and the deaths of the Schreient, except for Tot who survived. All the members of Schwartz and Weiss survived and have declared an unspoken truce with one another. They don't seek each other out but if they meet in battle all bets are off. The Weiss boys continue to work in the flower shop during the day and hunt evil during the night. Aya, leader of Weiss, has gone back to using the name Ran and his sister Aya-chan now lives with the boys at the flower shop while attending university. Schwartz now works for Taichi Corporation, a company which is believed to be rotten to the core though no proof appears for long before being snuffed out. After the incident which led to the deaths of her team and "Papa" Tot left Japan and has yet to be seen again. Manx and Omi now run Weiss Kreuz and have continued to fight for the world Omi's father, Persia was trying to create. 

The Beginning of Judgement

It was late as the five stood on the ridge, the sun set and the night overtaking the sky and the world it would soon cover. The five that stood on the hill facing the city were of varying heights but all stood military straight as they each mentally prepared for what was to come. They were at the point were everything would be decided, their decisions would affect the rest of lives in ways they couldn't even begin to imagine. They had been born into the military, trained for this but they'd never intended to use the skills they'd been taught until now. The police and the government were no help, they could see beyond the money that the company was bringing in. Too many lives had been lost already; they had to act if that were to stop. 

They were all dressed in black, each wearing black visor like glasses that hid their eyes and much of their upper face from view and scrutiny. Their hair, black as the clothing they worse, were pulled back from their faces, in styles that hid the hair's length and style. Around their necks they all worse slim chains with a crystal hanging from it. On each of the white, square crystals was an etching that represented the girl and the codename they had chose to wear. An owl, a moon and stars, a rose, a sword and shield and finally a six pointed star. It was doubtful that they would be seen in this form but if they were it were better that they would have little to set them apart from thousands of others. They hadn't been to the city in years but there were those who knew them, it was better that they not take any chances. 

The tallest stood slightly in front of the other four, the leader who would shortly be leading her sisters into battle. A katana, an ancient sword, was attached to her belt as she absently brushed a few stray strand of hair out of her way as she thought things through for the hundredth time that day. Tonight it would begin, as they'd vowed it would be. "Are you ready, I won't think less of you if you chose to stay here instead." She said, keeping her back to her sisters as she rested her hand upon the hilt of the katana, which would be used to draw blood tonight. She'd had it for a long time but had never used it against another human being with dark intent, tonight would change that.

"I'm in." Her sister, codename Hecate said with a confident look in her eye. Unlike her other sisters she knew what it was to take a life, was not looking forward to taking another. But like before this was a matter of life in death, if she wasn't willing to take a life then those who had done nothing would die in her would be victims' place. If surrendering her place in heaven was the price to pay for preserving what little good was left in this world then it was a price she was willing to pay. "It's the only way to stop them."

"I think it safe to say we're all in this, it's what needs to be done." Another sister, Artimis said as she walked to stand beside her eldest sister. She knew that this was difficult for all of them but they'd thought through all the other options, this was the only way. Like the woman she represented Artimis carried a crossbow in her hand, a loose hold but a knowledgeable one. She didn't approve of killing, she could never, would never condone or excuse what they were going to do. But it was something they had to do and they would do it. "As King Arthur put it, united we stand, divided we fall."

"We will protect the innocent, it's our duty and our burden." The youngest said, only seventeen but more of an adult then most twenty-year-olds. She carried no extra weapon but a knife in her boot and a gun in her shoulder harness hidden by her jacket. She had no intention of using them having a distinct dislike for the sight of blood. Any deaths she would cause would be clean and quick. She was Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and War; she never walked away from a fight. "Only a coward stands by and lets others prey upon the weak when they can do something to stop it. This is our destiny Jesse, it can be no other way." 

"We'll fight for the innocent until we draw our last breath." Persephone said with her quiet way. Like Artimis she hated what they must do but agreed with Athena's comment, she couldn't live with herself if others died because she did nothing to stop it. 

"Then we'll go." The leader said with a sigh as she turned to face her sisters, a weak smile on her face as they chose to face the unknown together. "And may the gods be with us, this is not an easy task ahead."

Brad Crawford sat in his seat and tried not to look at the clock. The morons he thought, inwardly fuming as he watched the board members argue back and forth, chickens with their heads cut off. They were all useless; their only reason for being here was the money they brought to the mix. If it were up to him he'd kill every last one of them. But it was not up to him Crawford thought as he looked up the table to the head where his boss sat watching his people bicker and pick fights with one another. With a quiet sigh Crawford followed his boss's lead, simply leaning back his chair and letting them squabble to their heats content. Running a hand through his raven black hair Crawford's brown eyes remained blank, his annoyance and anger firmly in check.

"Crawford, how is the situation with the Hondas?" His Boss asked him, lighting a cigar casually as he looked at him from the head of the table. Breathing out smoke he watched it disappear into the air. 

"It's being taken care of as we speak sir." Crawford said with a slight smile, or at least it had better be. He would have rather sent Schuldich or Farfarello to do the job but they were needed elsewhere and besides, the mission wasn't a difficult one. He had discovered that one of his boss's associates intended to go to the police about some of the deal that had been going on. He'd sent three of his men to see that that would never happen.

Then before he could answer five images in rapid succession flashed before him, each different and troubling. The first was an image of the three men outside the house, about to go in. The second was Honda holding his daughter with his wife pressed against him as they looked at the three men in fear. The third was of a woman, holding a bloodied knife, her face covered by black, wrap around shades which hid her face from view. The forth showed his men lying dead on the floor, their blood staining the floor's carpet. The last was of a medallion lying on one of his man's chest, the design familiar but its meaning escaping him for a moment. Blinking in to the present Crawford was aware that everyone was staring at him but his mind was too busy picking apart the images to care. Seconds past and then his cell phone rang. Pulling out the phone he pressed the on button and held it to his ear, "Hello."

"If you live up to your reputation you already know what's happened." A female voice said from the other end of the line. Her voice was husky and most males would have appreciated it but Crawford could have cared less.

"They're dead, the Hondas are not." Crawford said flatly, his eyes staring straight ahead with only a minuscule amount of anger visible. Now was not the time to lose his control, that could wait for later. "You killed them, why?"

"We will not allow you and your boss to continue to prey upon the weak. We are the Goddesses; judgement has arrived. Repent while you still can." The line went dead.

"The matter of the Hondas didn't go according to plan, sir." Crawford said as he replaced his phone back into his pocket, his movements deliberate and restrained. "I need to go and take care of it myself."

"Dismissed." His boss said sharply and Crawford quickly made his way out of the boardroom, his mind going a mile a minute as he began to plot, and plan for what was to come. No one threatened him; no one pulled something over him. The Hondas would die; then the Goddesses.

"So they just disappeared, as if they were never there?" Omi said looking upset. They had thought that the Honda's would be the break they needed to confirm what the Taichi Corporation was really up to but now he'd vanished from sight, most likely dead. Thinking of the little girl and wife Manx had mentioned Omi couldn't help but be saddened.

"He never showed up for the meeting that was scheduled for this morning, when agents were sent to his house they found the living room carpet soaked with blood, its being analyzed as we speak. However the family suitcases and other items were taken with them, its possible that one or more members of the family got away." Manx said, hoping that it was true.

"But what are the chances." Ran filled in, a bitter look upon his face. The man's daughter had only been five years old, what chance would she have had against hired guns.

"It could happen." Ken insisted, hopeful that they had gotten away or that at least they'd managed to take some of the bastards with them. 

"Until we can say for sure we'll hope that they're safe somewhere, its entirely possible that they were tipped off and managed to get away in time. Even if the blood was theirs, it doesn't mean that they're dead." Manx said firmly though she held out little hope. The Hondas would have been intended to be used as an example to the other members of the company, she doubted that there was any chance they would allow themselves to be beaten.

"Unless they gave them to Farn." Ran pointed out, not even wanting to think about what the sick bastard would do to those people. They hadn't run into Schwartz lately but he still remembered vividly what certain members of the group were capable of, he wasn't soon to forget it either.

"So who's the girl, Ran. Anyone I know?" Yoji asked as he walked into the room, a dozen white roses over his arm and a huge smile on his face. He looked at their leader with that only could be described as the cat that got the cream look as he swung the flowers in a wide gesture, nearly as wide as his grin.

"What are you talking about?" Ran said shooting him an annoyed look as he leaned back into the couch he'd been sitting on. He was in no mood for Yoji's hinting and games, what was he talking about and why was he looking at him like that?

"Aw come on Ran, you can tell us, we're your best friends after all." Yoji said with a wink as he stood in front of Ran, an evil look coming over his face when Ran just looked at him with frost-bitten eyes. "She has a real sexy voice by the way, is she as good as she sounds? If so you are one lucky man. She's loyal too by the way, I flirted with her and she acted like she didn't even notice."

"I don't know what you're talking about Yoji and its getting annoying." Ran said calmly, trying to contain the killer glare that was threatening to surface. He was tired and stressed out; he didn't need this right now. "Take those flowers upstairs before you wreck them, roses aren't cheap you know."

"So I suppose you don't know anyone name Jesse then, a certain young lady who obviously knows you quite well or seems to?" Yoji said with a knowing look when Ran turned his head sharply to stare at him intently, giving Yoji his full attention. "That got your attention real quick."

"What about Jesse?" Ran demanded, standing up so that he was eye level with Yoji, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. "How do you know about her?"

"Because oh fearless leader, she sent you these expensive flowers." Yoji said holding out the twelve white roses, each perfectly formed and beautiful. After all, the lady had requested the best there was for her Ran. "You got to admit she has good taste in flowers, boyo and she sent you a card too. Want me to read it too ya?"

"No." Ran said snatching the roses and the card from Yoji's hand with a larger glare then usual. Turning his back to Yoji and ignoring the open stares from the others in the room Ran set down the flowers on the coffee table and quickly read the note that Yoji had been waving around.

Dear Ran,

A surprise is coming shortly, hope you enjoy it.

Love,

Jesse 

Well that's it for now, let me know what you think okay? Thanks to all those who read and please review cause I love feedback. Thanx.


	2. Girls Meet Boys

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and my original characters

Girls Meet Boys

Jesse Langston looked at the flower shop and tried to picture Ran working there. It was very difficult to picture. The guy she'd talk to on the phone when she'd ordered the roses had confirmed that he worked there but she still had a hard time with it. She hadn't seen him in a long time though so it was to be expected that he'd have changed. Not to mention what Aya accident would have done to him Jesse thought with a frown as she remembered how torn up he'd been, to lose his parents and nearly his sister all in one day. But Aya was fine now and hopefully Ran would be happy to see her, they had not parted well the last time they'd met.

Looking at the girls congregating in front of the store Jesse had to smile in amusement at the thought of how annoying Ran must find their actions. He'd never been one to appreciate being crowded around and she imagined this must really rub him the wrong way. Of course he'd never minded it when it had been her and her sisters but they hadn't been strangers then. What would it be like to see him again she wondered as she fingered a chain she worse around her neck. Would he be glad to see her or shoot one of his icy glares at her, sending icicles to pierce her heart again? She could take it of course, but she didn't want to have to. She'd sent the flowers as a peace offering of sorts and hoped that he'd taken it that way. Well she'd wait until later to talk to him, they'd never be able to talk in that huge crowd and if he showed her the door she'd prefer it to be in private and without an audience. She and her sisters would be in town for a while after all, no need to rush things.

Omi sat in the hard wood chair and continued to count back from a hundred as he tried not to look at her. Despite his night job he didn't consider himself a violent person but at the moment he was very close to wanting to let the girl sitting across from him have it. Even though he wasn't looking at her he could feel her eye upon him, damning him to hell and back. She'd be using the other too if it weren't nearly swollen shut already; which had not been his fault despite what she'd told the nurse. So now they were stuck here waiting to be patched up while the guy the girl hand already beaten to a pulp was getting emergency first aid. All he'd been trying to do was help and what did he have to show for it? A frickin black eye of his own.

"Do we have to stay here?" The girl asked and Omi decided to look her in the face, if he didn't she might take it wrong. She was actually rather delicate looking which was a laugh given that she was the most violent woman he'd ever come across and he'd across a lot in his years. Her black hair was pulled back in a high ponytail and her eyes, one barely visible, were as dark as her eyes as they looked at him sarcastically. She was wearing a black t-shirt and blue shorts, both lightly splattered with the guy's blood and Omi really wished she'd stop staring at him so intently, it was giving him goosebumps. He'd never seen her before and prayed that he never would after this.

"You need ice for that eye." Omi said as he absently tapped on the armrest of his chair. They were sitting in the health office and Omi hopped that the nurse would hurry up because his face really hurt like hell and he could feel it swelling at an alarming rate.

"Which I wouldn't have needed if you hadn't seen fit to show your lack of intelligence, Pretty Boy." The girl shot back with an annoyed look. "And don't think I'm going to apologize for that eye either, you deserved it."

"Danielle Langston, what have you done now!"

Cringing slightly Danny took her eyes off the mommy's boy to see her sister standing in the doorway, her arms crossed in front of her chest and a look in her eye that stated clearly that she wasn't pleased. "Hey, Tori."

"Can't I leave you alone for ten minutes, Danny? Is this the guy that you beat up?" Tori asked turning her attention to Omi who was staring at the beautiful girl that had just walked in and appeared to be related to the hellion. The pretty one had black hair too but her eyes were brown Omi thought with a silly smile, chocolate brown. She was also wearing a beautiful blue sundress and he thought that she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. "I'm so sorry, my sister has a really bad temper and she tends to take it out on everything in sight. At least you only gave him a black eye, people were saying you nearly killed him."

"I'm not him, he's being put back together by the nurses, I was more of an afterthought." Omi said with a shy smile, his eye completely forgotten.

"Oh you poor thing." Tori said and moving over took his head in her hands before he could stop her to check over his eye. "Well at least she pulled the punch, otherwise your whole face would be swelling up." Then seeming to realize what she'd down the girl let go of his face and turning slightly pink move slightly away.

"Oh yeah sure, he's responsible for me getting a black eye and you're babying him. What about me, I'm your little sister, your flesh and blood!" Danny demanded, glaring at the both of them now. "And it'll take the nurse a while before she gets to us, it would be quicker just to go home. The other guy says he's not pressing charges." 

"This time and for the record I didn't punch her, the other guy did." Omi said not wanting the girl to think he'd punched her little sister, as much as she might deserve it. "I'm Omi by the way, Omi Tsukiyono." He said shyly as he stuck out his hand.

Taking his hand in her smaller one the girl smiled sweetly at him. "I'm Tori Langston, the ass kicker is my younger sister Danny. It's nice to meet you, Omi."

"Why don't you two go find a room, do me a favor." Danny said getting to her feet, disgusted with the two of them. Where was the family loyalty, where was the deserved sympathy? "I'm out of here, you coming Tori or do you two need a minute alone?"

"I'd apologize for her but I doubt it would help." Tori said sending her sister a dark look. "It was nice meeting you by the way."

"Same, will I be see you around campus?" Omi asked figuring the girls to be around his age.

"Probably, unless Danny gets us kicked out." Tori said shooting her sister a dark look before smiling at him brightly. "Sorry again about the eye, bye then."

Watching the two girls walk away Omi came to two very logical conclusions. One was that Danny or Tori must have been switched at birth because there was no way those two could be related. Second was that he really, really wanted to see Tori Langston again, soon.

"This is stupid, what can we possibly learn from standing here?" Farn asked Schuldich as he stood in the alley, watching the flower shop with Schuldich by his side. They'd been there for two hours and the only thing they'd got out of it was that Weiss seemed to be as popular with the ladies as ever. Look at them he thought with disgust as he watched the girls crowding in front of the windows and hang off the members of Weiss they occasionally saw through the window.

"Crawford said for us to watch the place, plus its fun to read those girls minds, you wouldn't believe some of the thoughts they're thinking about those morons, I should be so lucky." Schuldich said with a grin as he went from one delightful thought to another. "Lighten up Farn, it could be worse."

"If Weiss had taken up female members we would have heard about it, plus I doubt they've changed their names to the Goddesses. We're looking for an entirely new group, this is pointless." Farn said with a frown in the shop's direction, angry that things weren't going the way they wanted it to. These Goddesses were screwing with their agenda. "We should be out hunting for the Hondas, it would appear that they should still be alive."

"I wonder what they look like, I hope they're pretty, it's been a while since we've had a good-looking opponent. As to the Hondas both Nagi and Crawford are looking for them as we speak, nothing to worry about it that department, they'll find them." Schuldich said confidently as he patted Farn's shoulder.

"Well isn't that an interesting sight, kinda makes me ashamed I'm the same sex. Girls today, no sense of class or timing."

Both guys twirled around to see a woman standing behind them with an amused look on her face as she smiled at them. "I'll take that to mean you didn't know I was behind you, sorry for startling you."

Both men quickly took in the girl's appearance and both came to the conclusion that she was sin on heels. Her long black hair was up in a high ponytail but still reached far past her breastbone. Her eyes were nearly black and full of wicked humor, obviously well aware that she was being checked out. She was rounded in all the right places as well and Schuldich had to restrain from licking his lips at the tantalizing morsel. She was wearing a tub top and short shorts, which showcased her body and legs nicely. 

"You'd think they'd never seen men before." The girl said with a knowing grin as she nodded her head in the flower shop's direction. "Didn't expect Jesse to have this much competition, luckily she's more then up to it."

"We didn't even hear you." Farn blurted out, appalled that this slip of a girl had managed to get the drop on them. What if it had been someone else, a Weiss member or a rival assassin? They would have been dead right now and they would have deserved to be. 

"Don't feel bad, I'm a gymnast so I'm light on my feet." The girl said with a winning smile as she held out her hand in Farn's direction who simply looked at it without any intention of returning it. Sensing this she dropped her hand and just smiled more brightly at him. "I'm pretty sure we haven't met, I'm Mike Langston, pleasure to met you."

"I'm Schuldich, this is Farn, don't mind him, he's just rude. All the time." Schuldich said with a charming smile as he looked into her eyes, which looked back at him. An interesting girl he thought as he began to dig into her thoughts "I take it Mike's a nickname, you don't look like a Mike to me." He added charmingly to distract her.

"My full names Michelle but everyone calls me Mike unless I'm in trouble." Mike said with a winning smile, a strange feeling that she was being exposed taking over her senses. It was the orange haired one that was doing it too, him and those eyes of his. Feeling more then uneasy she instinctively moved closer to the one he'd called Farn. Choosing the lesser of the two evils she turned her attention back to the one that had interested her in the first place. "So Farn, what are you guys doing in this alley if you don't mind me asking?"

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, she's interested in Farn! Schuldich couldn't believe it but even if he weren't able to read people's minds he would have been able to tell it from her body language alone. The way she was looking at him from under her lashes, the way she tilted her head and smiled at his friend. My God, if she only knew who she was flirting with! And what an imagination Schuldich thought as he listened to her mental evaluation of Farn, apparently she felt Farn was a deserving nine out of ten in the body department. This girl apparently had a thing for well-muscled shoulders and arms.

"Just taking a break." Farn said, something about this girl making him uncomfortable. She was looking at him with an almost predator look in her eyes and yet he didn't feel threatened, just weird. Looking over at Schuldich Farn was surprised to see his friend looking at him like he'd never seen him before. What was going on?

"Interesting place to take a break." Mike said looking around them with a smile. She was pretty sure Sexy had no idea she was interested and that intrigued her, he intrigued her all around. What could she say, she had a taste for bad boys and this boy was definitely bad. "So do you boys hang around here often?" She intended to and seeing this guy constantly would definitely not be a hardship.

"No." Farn said. Looking over at Schuldich in confusion. The girl was attractive, why wasn't Schuldich hitting on her? Normally when good looking girls approached them Schuldich flirted with all of them, letting him fade into the background. Why wasn't he doing that now?

"Too bad. Well I should be going, doesn't look like I'll be getting into there anytime soon. I'll come back later, maybe I'll see you guys around." Mika said with a smirk and a little wave walking away she casted one last look at golden eyes before walking out of the alley and out onto the street.

"Damn but you're one lucky man Farn, you have got to go after that, otherwise you're a really big moron." Schuldich said as he watched those hips swing as she walked away from them. "I'll keep watch, you go get her phone number and anything else she wants to give you."

"What are you talking about?" Farn said giving Schuldich a dark look as he once again turned his attention back to the flower shop. "Why would I want her phone number?"

"Trust me pal, if her thoughts were anything to go by you want her phone number, her period. And that fine ass of hers too while you're at it." Schuldich said with a low whistle of appreciation. After all, given that she was a gymnast she was probably really flexible. "Now hurry up before you lose her."

"I'm not going after her and what are you talking about, what about her thoughts?" Farn said thinking of the way she'd been looking at him. What had she been thinking?

"Well lets just say that for the first time since I've known you a girl is interested in showing you a good time and you're going to miss it if you don't go after her." Schuldich said with a big grin. "As for thoughts, lets just say that her thoughts concerning you deserve a Pg-13 rating at the very least."

Catching his drift Farn looked back the way she'd left. He tended to scare people, enjoyed it in fact but the girl had never once looked even mildly nervous. In fact Schuldich was right Farn realized with a start, the girl had been checking him out. Being in the company of the other three Schwartz he'd seen the way women tended to look at them but he'd never been the recipient of it as far as he could remember. What on earth could have possibly attracted her to him? 

"Well too late now." Schuldich said with a regretful sigh, pretty sure the babe was long gone and her fine body with it. "Tough luck."

Shaking his head Farn simply continued to watch the flower shop, the girl and her strange behavior pushed to the back of his head as he tuned it out and continued to do the job Crawford had sent him on.

Crawford was ready to throw his computer out of the window and he was seriously considering it as he looked at the screen. He was reviewing disks found in the Hondas house, he'd had far too much information for comfort. It was a given that he'd have had more then one copy, the question was where the other copies were. If Hondas had given the police this info then there would be trouble. God dammit, why hadn't the boss told him to keep an eye on Honda? Running the heels of his hands over his eyes he looked up as there was a quick knock on the door. "Who is it?"

"I'm here to replace your secretary Mr. Crawford, my name is Christina Langston." A voice said through the door. 

It was slightly muffled but understanding the just of it Crawford sighed. "Come in then."

The door opened and Crawford watched a girl in her early twenties walk into the room. Unlike his usual secretary she walked in with a bright smile on her face and with an energy that was nearly visible. She had black hair pulled back into a loose bun and silver glasses over her black eyes. She had a nice build and was a little shorter then himself. Quick evaluation Crawford prepared to dismiss her. He hadn't wanted a secretary in the first place in this was his chance to prove to the boss that he didn't need one.

"Hello sir, reporting for duty." The girl said with another bright smile as she walked forward to stand in front of his desk. 

"I'm afraid they're has been a mistake Ms. Langston, I don't need a secretary. I can get along without one until my original one gets back from her medical leave." Crawford said turning his attention back to the papers on his desk. 

"Pardon me sir but there's no way you can handle all the work yourself, Mrs. Fuu said you already work too hard as it is." The girl protested with a knowing look. "I know I look to young for the job but I assure you I'm fully qualified for the position. I can speak over five languages fluently and can write them as well. I'm a great typist and am up to date on all computer programs. And I have great handwriting and will stay out of your way. Please Mr. Crawford, it'll only be for a month."

Looking up at her Crawford was all set to tell her no when something stopped him. With the adding of the Goddesses to his plate and the boss breathing down his neck he probably did need her. It was only for a month after all; he could always fire her later. "I take it you've been referenced and your past employment's checked."

"Yes, I was told to give this to you." She said holding out a few sheets of paper. Reading them over Crawford approved of her credentials and was surprised that she'd managed to accomplish all this when she was so young. If this was all true she was very over qualified to be a secretary and should have been able to get a better job then as his secretary. So why was she applying to this job and trying so hard to keep it? Interesting.

"Temporarily then." Crawford said handing the papers back before reaching for a small stack papers he'd moved to the back of his agenda. "I need these typed and ready for me to sign in an hour, can you do that?"

"I think so." She replied, taking the challenge without flinching. She'd grown up in the military; this was a piece of cake in comparison. 'Anything else?"

"That's it for know, you're dismissed." Crawford replied, assuming that she'd already been shown around and knew where her temporary office was.

"Yes sir, and this is for you." She said setting a plastic container on his desk. "My sister Tori is a vegetarian and she made a huge bowl of fruit salad this morning. It doesn't keep well and Mrs. Fuu said you tend to forget to have breakfast so I brought you some. I'll see you in an hour with the papers to sign sir." She added and left the room before he could tell her to take the container with her. Sending the door she'd gone through a dark look his eyes strayed to the container and out of simply curiosity opened the lid. Inside was every kind of fruit you could get neatly chopped up and looking absolutely delicious. Seeing no reason to let it go to waste he picked up a piece of mango and popped it into his mouth before turning back to the computer. He had to find the Goddesses and eliminate them, quickly.

Well that's it for now, I'm going away for March Break so don't count on this fic being updated quickly but I'll try to get the next one up as soon as possible. Any suggestions would be appreciated and as always I look forward to hearing from reviewers. Have a great day and ja ne.


	3. Meeting In A Flower Shop

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but my Goddesses and other original characters. I also own this truly messed up plot and I apologize for any mental damage you might have from reading this, I'm a very messed up and evil person. LOL.

Meeting In A Flower Shop

Omi hesitated in front of the flower shop, trying to think up a good excuse for his black eye. It wasn't like he could hide it and he just knew that Yoji was going to hassle him for getting beat up by a girl, not that he had been, but that's what Yoji would say. At least the swell wasn't too bad Omi reasoned, trying to look on the bright side of things. Plus he'd gotten to meet Tori and that more then made up for the fact that his face was really sore. Of course it could have been worse remembering the pulled punch comment, especially after seeing what was left of the guy Danny had massacred. Danny was definitely one person you didn't want to have as an enemy. Well enough procrastinating Omi told himself as he looked into the shop window to see Ken at the counter, working on an arrangement. After all, the girls from the high schools nearby would be here soon to crowd in front of the shop and gossip about them, better to do it now when there was no audience. Shaking his head at the very thought of the girls Omi moved away from the window and walked into the shop.

"Can I-Omi, what did you do to your face?" Ken asked as he caught sight of the swelling around his young friend's eye. It looked like Omi had been in a fight but Omi wasn't the type and beside the face and a bit of grass stains he looked fine.

"I tried to break up a fight and ended up with this to show for it." Omi said with a smirk, pointing to his eye carelessly. "It's not as bad as it looks, honest."

"Do you want me to get you some ice for that?" Ken said, putting down the baby's breath he'd been about to add to the flower arrangement. He was making up a special bouquet and he'd just been about to put the finishing touches on it. "I'm sure we have some in the fridge freezer."

"No, it's okay. Ken. I'm sure it looks a lot worse then it is." Omi said moving over to the counter, leaning against it as he looked at the arrangement. "You might want to shift those flowers around." He added as he pointed to two flowers that were sticking out slightly, giving the bouquet an off balanced look. "Just a thought." 

"A good one." Ken agreed as he quickly adjusted the two. "Better?"

"Yes. Omi, what happened to your eye?" Ran asked from behind Ken as he walked in with a pot of violets in one hand. The pot it had been in originally had been broken and Ran had just transplanted it into its new one.

"I got in Danny's way." Omi said with a grin. "I won't make that mistake again."

"Poor you, should have ducked." Youji said with a smirk as he waltzed into the room, his usual grin on his handsome face. Sunglasses on his head as usual the eldest member of the group walked over to Omi and turned Omi's head back and forth to get a better view of the damage. "He gave you a nice shiner, what does he look like?"

"She looks fine, it wasn't me she was beating to a pulp." Omi said with a casual shrug, they'd hear about it from someone else anyway. "Danny got into a fight on campus with another guy and when I realized she was bent and determined to send him to a morgue I tried to drag her off of him. She thought I was trying to help the jerk so she reacted by clipping me."

"You didn't hit her back did you?" Ken asked with concern as Ran walked past him to finish updating the accounts now that he knew Omi was all right and that there wouldn't be any repercussions. Jesse's gift on his mind he didn't even notice the sound of the front door being opened as five people walked into the store, none of them intending to buy flowers.

"Not bad, for a girl." Youji said with a smirk as he patted Omi on his head. "Poor little boy."

"For your information blonde I could have done a hell of a lot worse." A voice from the front of the store said and the three boys by the counter turned their heads to see five of the best looking females to ever walk through the door. They all had black hair and dark eyes, all tall and well built, obviously related. "And what are you doing here?" The shortest one demanded as she pointed a finger at Omi.

"What are you doing here?" Omi demanded to know as he stared at Danny in shock. Of all the flower shops in the entire city she had to go and walk into his. But then Tori, Omi thought and quickly changed that thought as she smiled sweetly at him before elbowing her sister in the side for her rudeness.

"This is the boy you punched for trying to help you?" One of the older girls asked, looking down at Danny with a dark look that said she wasn't at all pleased with what Danny had done. My God Omi thought as he looked at each of the girls in turn though his gaze kept coming back to Tori. Who would have thought that there could be three more Toris, admittedly older ones.

"How was I suppose to know he worked here." Danny said with a frown as she sent a veiled look of dislike in Omi's direction. "It's not like I stopped to ask who he was before I reacted like anyone else would." Besides, Danny added to herself, how was she supposed to know that the Mommy's boy worked at Koneko no Sumu? Kittens in the House, well the name certainly suited him Danny decided as she shot Omi a dark look. 

"Only you, Danny." Mika said with a smirk as she smiled charmingly at the three men looking at them with varying degrees of shock. They tended to have that effect on the male species. "I'm sorry to trouble you gentlemen but-."

"Oh you're no trouble at all." The blonde one said with a smile designed to charm a girl's socks off. A playboy this one Mike thought with a smile. "What can I do for you lovely ladies, anything you need I'm sure we can help." He said with a deliberate look that had Mike giving him one of her more powerful smiles, appreciating a fellow flirt. Of course he had nothing with that handsome hunk from this morning but hey, this one wasn't bad either.

"We're looking for Ran Fujimiya, is he working today?" Jesse asked, stepping forward so that her sisters were slight behind her. She hadn't really wanted to bring them along but they had pointed out that they could help if there was a major crowd at the store as there had been that morning. What was so interesting about a flower shop anyway? Was this city so empty of good looking men that they were reduced to this?

"He's in the back, Ken, why don't you go get him." Youji said, elbowing Ken in the side to get him hurrying. Sending Youji a dirty look Ken nodded at the girls before heading to the back, wondering what the girls could possibly want with Ran, maybe they were friends of Aya's? 

"So are you friends of his? I'm Youji by the way." Youji added helpfully as he continued to smile at them, trying to figure out which one he liked the best. The tallest one and the one who had asked for Ran was about his age, very beautiful like her siblings but there was something about the way she'd said Ran's name that made him think she might just be taken with his friend. The one who was smiling at him flirtingly looked a lot like her sister and Youji really had to admire the way she was filling out those shorts.

"Nice to meet you, Youji." Jesse said, pretty sure that this was the guy who had taken her order for Ran's flowers. She'd recognize that voice anywhere and she wasn't surprised to see that his face fit the face. "We're old friends of the family, we've recently moved back into town."

"How's your eye doing, Omi?" Tori asked then blushed slightly when Mike shot her a knowing look. Jeez, all she'd done is ask if he was all right, it had been her sister that had done the damage after all, there was nothing wrong with asking how he was.

"I'm fine, thanks." Omi said blushing a little himself.

"Quick moving, Tori." Mike said just loud enough for her younger sister to hear her. "So do you both work here too?"

"Yup, we've worked here for several years." Omi said smiling shyly at her. She was older then Tori but she seemed nice enough, better then Danny anyway. "So you use to live around here then?"

"Yup, our father was in the army and so we moved around a lot, we were here for about five months before we moved back to the States for a while." Chris said with a warm smile, glad to see that Tori had made a friend already. Her second youngest sister tended to be rather shy and Chris was glad to see that Tori had found this nice boy to talk to. "I'm Chris by the way, you've probably already figured out that these are my sisters Tori and Danny."

"And I'm her twin, Mike." Mika said pointing in Chris's direction. "And this is my older sister, Jesse."

"Jesse."

Everyone turned their heads in Ran's direction as he walked into the room to see the Langston sisters in the store, to see Jesse in the store. Feeling as though he'd been sucker punched all he could do is stare at her as her lips hesitantly went into a smile of welcoming. "Hello, Ran." Jesse said carefully, her eyes on his face as she memorized it, compared it to her memories of it. He'd filled out more she thought as she waited for his reaction; his eyes were harder, colder than she remembered.

"What are you doing here?" Ran finally managed to say, walking towards her, as though he were a human magnet, drawn to her by some invisible force. But then she'd always done that, drawn people to her with an ease he'd always admired about her.

"Father died, we decide to relocate her until we decided what we wanted to do next. We bought the old bookstore down the street, we figure we'll start a business for the summer and go from there." Jesse said with a searching look, frustrated that Ran was quickly getting himself under control, giving away nothing with his body language or face. "I hope you're not too against the idea, we were planning to get flowers from here on a regular basis."

"No." Ran said and very slowly a smile came over his face, growing as he got closer. To the guys shock he picked up speed until he reached her, practically picking her up as he pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly against him, having a hard time believing that she was here, forgiving him for the way he'd treated her. When he'd gotten the flowers he'd hoped that she'd been trying to heal the gap he'd put between them since he'd joined Weiss and it would appear that his hopes had come true.

"Awwwwwwwww they're so cute." Mika said with a smile as she watched the two, feeling as though she were looking back into the past. Well it was about time those two were friendly again, even if Jesse had had to do all the work of making it happen. But Ran was a male, stupidity when it came to feelings and pride were to be expected.

"So this is Jesse." Ken said with a grin, happy to see the rare smile on Ran's face as he hugged the girl tightly. Ran wasn't the demonstrating type; these two must be really close for him to welcome her this way.

"Well its about time." Danny said as she rolled her eyes at the two, though she did smile nicely for the first time since Omi had met her. She may have wanted to rip out Ran's heart when he'd broken up with her sister but she was prepared to forgive him, so long as he made up for it and never did it again.

"Danny?" Ran said, finally drawing back from Jesse, his hands remaining on her waist in a long ago habit. "Is that you, Wildcat?"

"Nobody calls me Wildcat anymore." Danny said with a smirk for him. "Long time no see, Ran." She added then decided what the hell and walked over to give him a quick hug. "And I'm sorry I gave your friend there a black eye, it was an accident."

"You're the one that gave him the black eye, figures." Ran said with a laugh as he looked at Omi then back at Danny again. Returning her hug Ran had to shake his head at how tall she'd gotten. She'd only been a kid the last time he'd seen her but she had to be, my God was she seventeen already?

"Yeah, we can't take her anywhere. Long time no see, Handsome." Mike said walking over to give him a hug of her own. "And if you can't recognize me then I'm afraid I'll have to sic Danny on you."

"And how on earth could any man forget you, Mikey." Ran said with a smile as he looked into her sparkling dark eyes. She'd always been a pistol, giving the guys in their neighbourhood hell from day one. A femme fatale his Mickey definitely was. "And if it isn't your better half, how are you doing Chris?" Ran asked as Chris came over to give him a hug as well.

"I'm pretty good that you very much." Chris said with a warm smile as she gave him a big hug. Ran had always been like an older brother to her and she'd missed him and especially didn't like the shadows under his eyes or the fact that he looked older then he was. "Sorry to just in on you unexpectedly, we planned on dropping in this morning but there were large crowds in front of the windows, busy week?"

"No, the girls from the local high school consider this a hang out." Ken said with a smirk as he enjoyed watching Ran being happy. "They come here every chance they get to drool over us and make a nuisance of themselves."

"Plus I'm sure they're here for the beautiful flowers, Ken." Tori said with a warm smile as she moved forward for her hug. "Looks like my green thumb wore off on you Ran, you have some beautiful specimens in here." She added as she wrapped her arms around his waist, glad to see him and that he'd been happy to see them. He was too skinny for her liking but she'd see to that, he'd always liked her cooking.

"I'll have to show you our green house some time, Tori, you'd have a field day in there." Ran said with a smile, tugging on her braid affectionately. The little mother Ran thought with affection as he remembered how Tori had loved to cook and baby him whenever he'd come over to the Langston house for dinner. The only thing Tori had loved more then mothering her family and him was mothering her flowers. "Still playing in the dirt?"

"Every chance she gets." Mike said with a smirk as she shook her head at her sister's strange love of wallowing in dirt and digging for flowers that only were around for half the year. "What's that sound? A herd of elephants?" she added when the sound of a lot of feet hitting pavement reached her ears.

"Here they come." Omi said with a remorseful sigh and in answer more then twenty girls descended on the store, not looking at all pleased to see five good looking strangers cuddling up to their florists. Seeing the way the schoolgirls were looking at the Langston sisters reminded Omi of two dogs about to fight over a piece of meat. The sisters weren't frowning or shooting the other girls evil looks but there was something about their posture that suggested that they were aware of the other girls problems and weren't above rumbling if necessary

"Omi-kun, I'd like to buy this." A girl with blonde hair and the normal green uniform demanded as she stuck a single daisy in his face. "Please." She added shooting Chris, the sister closest to Omi a dark look. 

"Of course." Omi said, trying to hide a smile. Handing the flower over to Youji who was behind the counter; Omi smiled sweetly at him. "Here Youji-san, you wouldn't mind putting this in some paper for her while I introduce myself to Ran's friends now would you?" Omi smiled as Youji glared at him, well aware that Youji had had plans to start hitting on the girls as soon as they'd finished hugging Ran. Better to keep him out of trouble for now, especially if he'd had plans to hit on Tori.

"No problem." Youji said shooting Omi a dark look before grabbing some paper from under the counter and quickly putting some of Ken's left over baby's breath in with the daisy until it looked nice and pretty. "Will that be everything?" Youji added as he smiled at the girl who was alternating between shooting him sweet looks and glaring at the sisters.

"Looks like you boys are going to be really busy." Jesse said in amusement, feeling a bit smug that as soon as he'd finished greeting her sisters he'd automatically returned to her side. Sure it was out of habit but still, it was a start. "We'll leave you to your work and drop in again when its not so busy, if you guys don't mind?"

"Oh we won't mind at all, drop in any time you want to." Ken called from the left side of the store where several girls were deliberately trapping him into the corner to keep him away from the sisters who were watching the girls with looks of amusement and pity for the guys who were trapped into dealing with them. "Right guys?"

"Of course, come by anytime." Omi said as he ignored the girl tugging on his arm as he looked at Tori, blushed when she caught him staring at her. 

"I second that and so does Ran." Youji called out as he smiled at the girls before turning back to a girl who'd approached him with a potted plant that she wanted to buy for her grandmother who was feeling under the weather.

"What he said." Ran said with a glare at several girls who were hovering nearby, just waiting to pounce as soon as the sister quite guarding him. Which they were Ran realized with a start and some amusement. A quick sweep of his eyes made him realize that Mike, Chris, Tori and Danny had formed a loose circle around Jesse and himself, keeping any of the girls from being able to get near him. They'd done that when he and Jesse had dated, letting the world know that he was taken and that they might as well keep dreaming cause they weren't getting near him. "Drop by anytime, I'm usually here and I'm sure Aya will love to see you guys again."

"Same goes." Tori said with a bright smile. "Now lets go before we get these poor guys fired." 

In agreement the girls hugged Ran good bye and then with smiles and waves for the other three Weiss boys they made their way outside, laughing at the way the schoolgirls converged on the boys as soon as they had exited the store.

"Hello boys." Manx said as she walked into the flower shop later that evening to find the boys doing last minute jobs before closing up for the night. "Busy day?"

"You could say that. Word got out that there was competition for our affections so the girls came in droves to buy stuff in order to insure we don't run off with the lovely Langston sisters." Youji said with a grin before shooting Ran a look who responded by giving Youji a dark look.

"And who are the Langston sisters?" Manx asked with a smile, interested in the pointed looks Youji was giving Ran. Behind her she could hear Ken locking up the store for the night and she was surprised to hear him whistling under his breath. Why was he so happy?

"Five of the hottest looking girls to ever walk through those doors." Youji said with a grin as he adjusted a few flowers in the vase beside the cash register. "And two of them are twins. Long legged, curvy and gorgeous twins."

"Lay a hand on either of them and I'll chop you up into little bit size piece so small a mouse could swallow them whole." Ran said in a perfectly reasonable voice. Youji was his friend but he'd fall on his own blade before he'd see Mike or Chris date him. "Not that they'd ever give you the time of a day." He added with a smirk. Mike may be a flirt but she wasn't stupid or reckless when it came to men, she'd see through Youji like looking through a pane of glass.

Friends of yours, Ran?" Manx asked as she moved to lean against the counter, more then just a little interested now. Who were these sisters and what was their connection to Ran, Mr. Monk?

"Yeah, so what's up, Manx?" Ran asked, effectively turning the conversation away from himself and towards the reasoning behind Manx's unexpected visit. "A mission?"

"No, several bodies were found today, their blood matches the blood stains found on the Hondas floors. Preliminary results suggests that it was the blood from the men on the floor, none of the blood indicates coming from Honda or a member of his family though we haven't ruled that out. The men were dumped a couple of miles from the Hondas home, it looks like the time of death was soon after the security was compromised at the Hondas household. As of right now we are assuming that these are the men who were sent to kill the Hondas, their records indicate they are known criminals and were suspected of being involved in several other murder cases." Manx said seriously. "There were four men, one was sliced across the chest with a large blade similar to your katana, Ran. Another had a knife wound, directly through the heart with no blade found on the scene. The third was killed when his neck was snapped in half after taking quite a beating with severe bruising indicating there was a struggle before hand. The final took an arrow through the head, died pretty quick though there were signs that he'd been in a slight struggle before the death hit."

"But Hondas doesn't strike me as the type, who killed them?" Omi asked as he tried to figure things out. He'd checked out Manx's file on Hondas and the man hadn't struck him as the type to be able to use any weapon, much less several. Killing the victims as well.

"No idea. They were killed in the house and then moved from the house to the dumping point. I have a feeling that it wasn't the killers that dumped the bodies either, what would be the point since they were sure to be found? My guess is that the killers took the Hondas for whatever reason and the people the would be killers worked for retrieved their bodies from the house and disposed of them. One of them we also believe was the look out, we saw signs of blood on the ground where he fell, the one who got the knife." Manx said with a sigh. "The big question is of course still who killer the killers and what do they want with the Hondas?"

"So from everything we gathered it would appear that the Hondas could possibly still be alive and safe?" Ken said carefully, not wanting to hope if there was no possibility.

"That's what we're hoping. Whoever took them were professionals with training, these were precise deaths; well planned out and professionally completed. We found no fingerprints, hairs or anything on the like that on the bodies, I have a feeling we won't any time soon. We do however have one clue." Manx said with a smile, though it was only a small one. Seeing what remained of the four men had not put her in a smiling mood. "One of the security cameras at the Hondas managed to record some vague images of what happened outside of the house. It was very blurred and old, not part of the new security system the Hondas had installed and what the would be killers got through. We have what look to be five people of undetermined sex and age in black coming onto the grounds before the camera went offline as well. It's possible that these five are our killers."

"Well that rules out Schwartz." Omi said on a cheerful note. "Though its rare to have an assassin group with more then four members, we tend to work in small groups or alone to be able to get around better. Plus I don't recognize these forms of death as being specific to any group. Was any trademark or calling card left on the bodies?"

"No but all forms of identification had been removed from the body, its possible that if it was their people that dumped them that they took that as well." Manx said with a shrug. "All we can do is hope that one of the five screwed up some how or that they strike again while Weiss is nearby."

"The only question is how they'll react when they meet up with Weiss." Ran said quietly, wondering if these five new figures were friends or foes. "Whatever they are I have a feeling we'll be seeing them again soon."

Well that's it for now. Obviously. So what did you think of my latest masterpiece? Lol, that's a joke but I do hope you liked it. Thanks for reading and please review cause I'd love to hear from you. Thanks and bye for know. 


	4. An Interesting Beginning

Disclaimer: I won nothing but the original character and plot.

An Interesting Beginning

The sun was only beginning to come up to the sky when Crawford arrived for work, punching in his security codes a lot hard then was entirely necessary. Crawford was really not in a good mood and not even the peaceful morning could improve it. He'd ordered the bodies to be disposed of and what had the morons done? They'd dumped the bodies at the side of the road a few miles away from the Honda's house. Of all the incompetence Crawford thought thinking seriously about sending Farn to make sure they understood how badly they'd screwed things up. At least they had had the sense to take the medallions Crawford thought as he made his way to the elevator. Stepping in Crawford pushed the button for his floor and then glanced at his watch. What time would his secretary get in and would she have the heap of work he'd assigned her done? He'd deliberately given her more then he normally would to test her and Crawford had a nagging suspicion that she would. There was something about her that said she was the type to take a challenge and run with it as oppose to from it, he admired that. Of course he would still get rid of her as soon as he could but there was no sense in not taking advantage of her skills while she was here. He'd intended to do a more thorough background search on her last night but had been held up with dealing with all the incompetent mistakes being made. Not that he'd find anything on her that would surprise him, he fully expected her to have the usual civilian record and if she had so much as a parking ticket he'd be surprised. He knew her type, associated with them socially when he was required to attend dinners and parties with the boss and the other people he'd worked for in the past. As the elevator was about to close Crawford was surprised to hear a female voice call out to hold the elevator. Raising an eyebrow Crawford pressed the hold and raised the other when his new secretary slid in.

"Good Morning, Mr. Crawford, sleep well?" Christine asked with a cheerful smile as she looked at the leader of Schwartz. He didn't look like a mass murderer but that wasn't surprising, the best ones never did. She'd taken a life two days ago; she didn't look it either.

"Fine. What are you doing here?" Crawford asked as he gave her a side look.

"I'm your new secretary, Sir." Christine said with a calm smile, inwardly cursing that he'd come so early. She'd intended to hack into his computer before he got there but he had to come in even earlier then usual. It was only a quarter to seven for god sakes. The old secretary had stated that he came in a quarter after seven, he wasn't supposed to be here.

"I know that, what are you doing here so early?" Crawford said with a cool look. "My old secretary usually arrived at quarter to eight."

"I know but she said you usually came here an hour earlier then that, I thought that you might appreciate it if I came in when you do, Sir." Christine said with a sugary sweet smile. "Unless of course you'd rather I not, Sir. I grew up on army bases so I'm use to getting up early, Sir."

"You, on army bases?" Crawford said looking at her from head to toe with a slightly mocking air. She looked like a strong wind could send her flying across the room. She wouldn't last one 

minute in military training. "Whatever for?"

"Military service is a family tradition, I come from a long line of soldiers, Sir. Before I came to work for you I worked for Military Intelligence. Desk job." Christine said with a charming smile as she thought of how easily this was. The poor moron, he has no idea that if I wanted I could kill him with my bare hands fifty different ways without even having to think about it. Of course he didn't know that, wouldn't know it until it was too late. She was here to infiltrate this organization from the inside and when she was done Crawford would never judge a book by her appearance again, if he were still alive after this.

"Ah, how interesting." Crawford said with a smirk, wondering how much the girl's family had had to bribe officials to get her through the courses. She was probably all right with the technical aspects but if she ever tried to fire a gun she'd likely end up shooting herself instead.

"Yes, sir." Christine said as the doors opened and they stepped out. How long would it take Crawford to realize that she wasn't some shrinking violet? If she had her way he would never find out, he struck her as the type to take it personally and dedicate his life to bringing her down. Of course it would be the other way around but he would be an annoyance. Plus a waste of a fine ass Christine added mentally as she watched her boss walk in front of her. Of course that didn't matter but hey, she was Mike's twin, these things were bound to rub off on her occasionally. Besides, it wasn't like she'd develop anything but loathing for the guy, Mike was the one who preferred bad boys.

"Hey Brad, how come we got to meet so early?" A voice asked and Christine looked slightly around Crawford to see a guy with fairly long reddish orange hair come waltzing towards them with bed head and a look that was only half awake. "Hey, you bring someone with you?"

"My secretary came early." Crawford said with a dark look, restraining from reminding Schudich not to call him Brad. "Are the other two here as well?"

"Yup, Farn and Nagi are in your office. Hey, it's Farn's babe! Holy Moly, talk about the luck of the Irish, here I'd thought he'd blown his chance completely!" The man apparently called Schudich said and Christine realized with a start that he was referring to her. Was she going to have to break her cover already by breaking this guy into little pieces for the way he was looking at her?

"What are you talking about?" Crawford demanded, not liking the way Schudich was looking at Christine. The last thing he needed was the moron seducing his new secretary.

"Your new secretary was the girl that was hitting on Farn yesterday." Schudich said with a huge grin. "The clothes and the hair are different but I got to say girl that you actually manage to make that business suit look pretty hot."

"I don't know who you are but I'd appreciate it if you'd stop looking at me like that." Christine said softly then seeing a possibly opening moved behind Crawford as if seeking protection. It was kind of annoying because he was taller then she was but she figured that this was too good an opportunity to waste. Let Crawford play big macho guy and he would be blind to her actions later.

"Yeah you do, I'm Schudich remember? We met the other day by the flower shop. I was with a guy named Farn and you were flirting with him."

"I think you have the wrong person, Schudich. I very much doubt that Ms. Langston is the type to go around flirting with Farn." Crawford said, actually smiling slightly at the thought. Farn was more likely to send Ms. Langston running away screaming.

"I'll prove it to you." Schudich said stubbornly. "Hey Farn, come out here a minute will you."

At the sound of approaching footsteps Christine moved more to Crawford's side so that she could get a look at the man she'd supposedly hit on. As if Christine thought as she took in the silver haired man walking towards them with the stealth of a predator. Sure he had sexy bad boy written all over him but he also had insane psycho written all over him too. This was someone Mike would hit on-Oh God.

"What?" Farn asked looking mildly irritated. Schudich had already pissed him off enough with talk about that girl from yesterday; Schudich was definitely not in Farn's good books at the moment. Not that he was usually.

"Look who's here." Schudich said proudly pointing to Christine.

"So?" Farn said as he lifted an eyebrow. The girl resembled the girl from yesterday but so what, he didn't know this woman nor did he see any need to. 

"It's the girl from yesterday." Schudich said with a confused look. "Don't you remember, from yesterday?"

"That's not her." Farn said with a shake of his head. Tryst Schudich not to be able to see the differences. This girl wore glasses, was ever so slightly taller and more willowy than Mike. Plus this girl was hiding behind Crawford; Mike struck him more as the hands on hips with glare type. Put that all together along with their different auras Farn was willing to bet a fair amount of money that this wasn't her.

"You can tell us apart! Our own mother can't do that without thinking about it deeply first!" Christine said in surprise as she gapped at him. "How on earth did you know I wasn't Mike?"

"I'm confused." Schudich said and Crawford had to agree that he felt the same. What were they missing? With eyes widening they watched Christine move around Crawford to stand directly in front of Farn, not a hint of fear in her eyes now, only shock.

"You're related?" Farn asked as he looked into her eyes. She smelled different too Farn noticed as he stood only inches from her. Mike had smelled more exotically while this one smelled elegantly, like a lady should smell. She wasn't a timid flower like he'd first thought either Farn realized with a touch of surprise. He'd always believed the saying that the eyes were the windows to the soul and her eyes were saying that she was a lot tougher then she looked.

"At a guess I think you might have meant up with my twin sister Mike, I know she was near the flower shop yesterday and you're the type she likes to hit on." Christine said with a weary look. The might be nearly identical in appearance but her taste in men had always differed from Mike's. This was definitely her sister's type and Christine wondered what had happened to the man's eye and face. Judging from the angle of the cuts one would assume that it hadn't been an accident but deliberate. Question was what was this guy's connection to Crawford? She knew that a member of Schwartz was rumoured to be a cutter whose speciality was knives, had her sister gone and hit one of their possible adversaries? "I think your friend had mistaken me for her, people tend to."

"Only people without intelligence." Farn said with a shake of his head, being able to tell them apart no problem.

"Hey, how was I to know that Mike had a twin sister who was Brad's new secretary." Schudich demanded looking more then a little irritated. 

"I'll apologize for him, he's never completely at home upstairs, even more so in the morning." Crawford said with a cutting look, getting rather annoyed with the Brad comments. He hated to be referred to by his first name and took advantage of the opening they'd provided him with. Payback was a bitch.

"I can't believe you're making me do this, Tori. I'm your sister for god sakes." Danny said with a hint of a whine as she tried to dig her heels in which wasn't working since she was walking on pavement with her sister pushing her from behind.

"You did the damage and now you'll correct it." Tori said in a firm tone that broke no argument. She was going to get Danny to the flower shop if it killed her. That was appearing to be more and more of a likely possibility as they drew closer to the store.

"But he was asking for it, only a moron gets involved with a fight that doesn't involve him. If he hadn't gotten in the way I would have turned that jerk's face into a Picasso instead of only breaking a few bones." Danny said with a pout as she kicked a stone but quit dragging her feet. "If I wanted help I would have damn well asked for it."

"And you wouldn't jump into a fight if you thought your help was needed?" Tori asked with a raised eyebrow having been waiting for her sister to make that kind of comment.

"Well that's different-well it is. I can take care of myself, that Omi kid's a nerd that should know better." Danny said with a dark look. "Why don't you just go without me, your using this as an excuse to see him again anyway."

"I am not." Tori said with a dark look as a hint of a blush graced her cheeks. "You gave him a black eye which is probably throbbing and really uncomfortable right now and he didn't deserve it. That cream Mike made will help with the swelling and numb the area, you are going into that shop, apologizing and giving him the cream as an apology."

"You suck." Was Danny's reply as she turned her head to send Tori a look before facing forward, mentally accepting that she might as well get this over with before Tori dragged the rest of her sisters into this. Danny knew from past experience that they'd have no problem with ganging up on her, better to avoid it when she could. Coming to a stop in front of the flower shop Danny turned and gave her sister a mean look. "And since this is all about me apologizing as oppose to you wanting to see Omi you can stay out here."

"Nope, I'm going in too to make sure you actually apologize." Tori said as she crossed her in front of her chest, a sure sign that Danny wasn't going in without her.

"You suck." Danny repeated as she sent her sister a glare that would have scared the hell out of anyone who didn't know her. "Let's go then." Marching into the store Danny marched up to the counter where Omi was ringing things in. "I'm sorry that you were injured trying to help me even though it was your own stupid fault. This is for you to put on your eye, it'll help it." Danny said as she held the jar of cream out, just daring him to rub her apology in her face.

"Okay." Omi said taking the jar from her. "Thank you."

"She made me, otherwise you can bet your ass I wouldn't be here except to visit Ran." Danny said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Plus Tori wanted to make a fool of herself over you again so she used this as an excuse."

"Danielle."

"Or not." Danny said with a wince, knowing that when she was called by her first name she was in deep trouble. Okay maybe she could have not said the last part but it was humiliating to have to apologize to the little mommy's boy. 

"Well thanks anyway." Omi said with a nice smile though there was a slight blush to his cheeks. Oh god, the kid had a thing for Tori too Danny thought with growing horror, could this day get any worse.

Mike had the strangest feeling that she should knock on wood as she made her way into the Honda's house. Thanks to the bugs they'd placed in cop central they knew for a fact that one of the heads of the department and an assassin group called Weiss Kreuz was sending some men over to sweep the house again for clues. How ironic Mike thought as she got in easily that the former chief of police's secretary, code name Manx was one of the heads of the assassin group. The Goddesses knew little about the group except by reputation, Mike was hoping to meet up with them sometime, bad boys with some morals, not something you find often. Besides, it was said that they had brought done Takakori, for that they at least deserved a big kiss. Though it had never been proven the Langston sisters had always assumed that that bastard Takakori was behind Ran's parents murders and Aya's accident. Needless to say she was looking forward to meeting these boys. 

Walking through the house Mike pulled the disks from her pocket then with a smirk threw them on Honda's desk. Since the Boss owned half the police in the police department she doubted that this information would come into much use but it wouldn't hurt. Looking around Mike shrugged her shoulders at the strange feeling she was getting and walked back out of the house, setting the security back on as she left through the front door.

Jesse's fingers raced across the keyboard, as her eyes never left the screen. Even though she was nowhere near the hacker Chris was Jesse could still manage well enough on her own and it wasn't like she was hacking into classified information. The information she was hacking into was the Boss's personal planner and though it had some pretty good security one of Chris's viruses had gotten rid of the blocks fairly quickly. Downloading the relevant information Jesse raised an eyebrow when she realized that he recorded when hits were to take place as well. He had notes that he was negotiating with Honda on the day that the hitmen had been sent to Honda's house. Interesting term for mass murder Jesse thought with a roll of her eyes. Well he wouldn't be negotiating with anyone else for a while because now that she had his schedule and Chris had infiltrated successfully there were going to be changes. Because the Goddesses weren't leaving until the Boss was taken down, that was a promise.

That's it for now, hope you liked and will review.


	5. The Goddesses and Schwarz

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and the plot.

The Goddesses and Schwarz

Brad felt the chill go up his spine even as his eyes opened, his eyes wide as he shot out of bed. A vision had come to him as it usually did but it was rare for it to be while he was dreaming. The only problem was it had obviously taken place in the late afternoon as he had seen a sunset in the background yet it was only five in the morning. His visions were always of something that was to happen in the immediate future, which meant that there was something wrong here. Rubbing his hands over his eyes he recalled it in his mind, the images flashing to life vibrantly. First there had been the image of five women, the Goddesses he was sure standing in front of an old house. The second had been of his secretary in his arms, his own wrapped around her protectively. The last had been of one of the Goddesses shooting Schudich in the chest, blood flying as he fell backward. Could they simply be dreams though? How could they possibly be premonitions of what was to come, especially the second one? The best secretary he'd ever had she might be but they'd never shared more then hellos and good byes, it would stay that way. Therefore it had to have all been a dream, but then why had it felt like a prophecy.

Nagi Naoe sat down in the seat and setting his backpack down beside him watched the other teens walk into the room. Like insects they swarmed in, making a lot of noise and being annoying. Leaning back in his seat Nagi wondered for not the first time if coming here had been a good idea. He did university online courses for his education and this really didn't mater but he'd heard about it and had been intrigued. Several professors had advertised on the school website for teens' ages seventeen and up to help out with a study on the powers of the human mind. They intended to study the way the mind works in some situations and possibly how to make them stronger, using more of its potential. It was only two hours out of his day and the idea of learning to not only control his powers but increase them had led him to applying for it. Of course he'd never let them see what he was capable of but the research they were doing would inadvertedly provide Nagi with more insight into his curse.

"Is this seat taken?" A voice asked and Nagi looked to his right to see a girl standing there with an impatient look on her face as she motioned to the seat beside Nagi. She looked to be about his age with black hair and brown eyes, black clothing as well though not in a Gothic sense. She didn't have the make-up or the heavy jewellery for that. She also had a large bruise over her eye and Nagi wondered for a moment where she'd got it then pushed it to the back of his mind. He didn't really care.

"It's yours if you want it." Nagi said with a shrug and watched the girl unslug her own backpack and placing it under her seat sat down.

"Thanks, appreciate it." Danielle said as she sat down, looking the guy over before turning her gaze to the front where the professors would be if they weren't late. Her new seatmate had brown hair and indigo eyes, rather slender but thanks to his lack of glasses and geeky clothes kept him from looking like a nerd. She'd opted to sit beside him because he struck her as the silent type who'd leave her alone. She'd decided to take this summer thing because she was interested in the powers of the mind aspect, not in socializing. She and Tori had seen the advertisements for this project while they'd been checking out the university and Tori had suggested that she check it out given her new sixth sense. Sixth sense, that was one way to put it. Jesse and the rest called it her gift; she could argue that. Plus she'd had to almost die to get it so in her eyes it was something she could have done without thank you very much. None the less here she was, a soon to be lab rat.

Nagi ignored the girl beside him, not even bothering to ask her name as he contemplated the night ahead. Because of these Goddesses Crawford was sending Farn, Schudich and Nagi to oversee an operation that was to take place at midnight and Nagi wasn't exactly looking forward to it. He'd only stay in the shadows anyway, not participating so why his presence was required was beyond him. Crawford had said he wanted him there in case his gifts came in handy but Nagi hoped nothing would go wrong, he had no taste for killing. Not that he'd really ever taken a life though he'd come very close when he'd sent that building crumbling down on Weiss and his team mates when Farn stabbed Tot. Tot, now there was someone he hadn't thought about in a while. She'd left soon after she'd recovered fully from her wounds, refused to stick around with her Papa dead. It had been stupid of him to think he'd even stood a chance with her, or that he'd wanted to. She'd been beautiful but looking back Nagi could see clearly that even if she'd stayed with him nothing good would have come of it. They were too different; sometimes he wondered if he'd loved her solely because he needed to be loved in return. But Tot only had love for her Papa and the closest thing Nagi had to someone who loved him was Crawford and Crawford didn't love him at all, cared for him slightly at most. Of course there was Farn and Schudich and ironically enough Nagi felt closer to the man who'd almost killed Tot then he did to the other. Since he'd brought the house down literally Farn had been more under control regarding his need to punish God and had become more normal though he still preferred his straightjacket and knives he cut himself less and just seemed more together. Sometimes Farn even helped Nagi with his English homework; not something Nagi excelled at. Of course he was still a cold blooded, psychotic killer but at least he didn't pretend not to be. Nagi didn't trust Schudich near as much as Schudich tended to not be what he seemed and hid behind an easy smile and a charming manner. Nagi had felt Schudich invading his thoughts on more then one occasion and for that alone he sometimes hated the orange haired mind reader. His thoughts were one of the few things Nagi could call his own and having them invaded was a crime he wouldn't easily forget. 

Glad when the two hours were up Danny got up with all the other students and stretched out her back which was sore from all that sitting. Today had been spent discussing several of the activities they'd be doing and explaining that due to all the people who'd signed up for the project they'd be doing some preliminary tests next day to determine who would stay and who would go. She didn't really care either way but kinda wanted to stay, the professor had made it sound really interesting. Looking beside her out of the corner of her eye she looked at the boy who'd sat beside her so silently through the entire thing, not even bothering to introduce himself. Of course she hadn't either so she really couldn't fault him for that. Well she might as well introduce herself; she didn't completely lack manners after all. "Sounds interesting, the tests I mean. I'm Danny by the way." Danny said as she moved forward, holding her hand out to the boy who looked at it without expression. Then before she moved to withdraw her hand because she thought he wouldn't shake it he lifting his own and sliding his slightly larger hand into hers shook it.

"Nagi." Nagi replied simply then let her hand go. At first he thought that maybe she'd been talking to someone else but everyone was leaving and her hand had been pointed in his direction. She had nice hands.

"Nice to meet you." Danny said with a nod. "Are you coming back tomorrow or are you dropping it after that lecture about all the forms we have to sign about not suing them for any phy damage."

"I'll be here, I doubt that they can come up with anything my brain can't handle." Nagi said with a slightly bitter smile. After what his life had been like for the past seventeen years he really doubted that the professors could come up with anything that could come close to competing. "Are you dropping?"

"Nope, I'll be here." Danny said with a sigh as she slugged her bag further up her shoulder. "Well we'd better get going before they lock us in here." Motioning towards the pretty much empty room Nagi saw her point and so the two walked out of the room side by side, not even talking, comfortable in the silence. "Oh no, what's he doing here?" Looking in the direction Danny was looking Nagi felt his eyes narrow as he caught sight of Omi talking to a girl that had an uncanny resemblance to the girl beside him. "He's like a bad penny, he shows up everywhere!"

"You mean Omi?" Nagi asked cautiously.

"Yup, the King of Momma's Boys. It was all his fault I got this black eye, if he hadn't got in the way that stupid jock would have never have landed it. But no the moron had to go and interfere and now he's got my sister cooing all over him. You'd think she'd show some taste." Danny said as she glared at Omi.

Surprised Nagi looked at Danny with his face for once showing what he was thinking. Omi tended to be a very popular person and it was very rare to run into someone who couldn't stand him. Nagi could stand him but they didn't get along by any means. They basically never ran into each other anymore and that was the way Nagi preferred it. He felt sorry for Danny; if her sister went out with Omi Danny would be stuck seeing the prick all the time. "Maybe nothing will come out of it." Nagi said trying to be helpful and was rewarded with a slight smile from Danny.

"You're sweet to say so but somehow I doubt it." Danny said with a sigh. "Well I'll see you later Nagi, I have to go save my sister from the forces of Goody-goody."

"Bye." Nagi returned and watching her walk away Nagi waited till Omi was looking at the approaching Danny before he deliberately moved into Omi's line of vision. Once he was sure Bombay could see him he gave the youngest Weiss member a cool smile before turning on his heels and walking away. There was a lot of planning to be done and tonight was going to be busy.

"This is getting rather boring, no one even knows about this, who's going to come and try to screw it up." Schudich complained as he ran his hand through his orange bangs. "When did Crawford say that we could leave?"

"As soon as the truck pulls away so quit complaining or I'll give you something to complain about." Farn said in a dark voice as he leaned against the brick wall. Twirling one of his blades absently in his right hand Farn scanned the area for trouble but the only motion were the workers who were loading up the truck and the guards that circled the parked vehicle. He'd been trying to figure out what was in the crates they were packing but so far noting had clicked. Sensing rather then seeing Farn twisted his hand automatically, bringing the blade to a move defence hold. The change in hold resulted in blood running down his arm as the blade cut into it flesh of his arm at the sudden change in direction but Farn didn't really feel it.

"Hey man, you cut yourself again." Schudich said as he motioned to Farn's arm who changing the hand the blade was in absently brought his arms to his mouth, licking away the blood as his eyes scanned for what had caused his senses to come alive the way they had.

"Yuck." Schudich said then picking up on Farn's emotions straightened against the wall and began to look more closely around them, which was difficult, as there wasn't much light to go by. They were in front of a warehouse at midnight after all, the only light came from a few light posts and some light from the room they were bringing the crates from. There was a light inside the truck as well but that didn't help anyone but the movers. "What do you think is out there?" Schudich asked in a low whisper, his own instincts kicking in.

"I don't know, nothing good." Farn said as he lowered his hand to pull another blade from the large collect that he kept on his body at all times. "But I think its time I do a little hunting." Not waiting for Schudich to respond Farn moved away, walking towards the left then disappearing behind a building. 

Moving with the stealth of a cat Farn had only moved a couple of meters when he sensed her presence. Which was just enough time to anticipate the blades that flew through the air, their aim true and had he not moved they would have gone completely through his wrists, effectively immobilizing his hands. Swinging his arms forward the blades skinned his inner arms but missed their targets. Going down into a crouch he let lose his blades into the shadows the blades had come from and seconds later watched a woman in black walk from the shadows, twirling his blades as though they were batons.

"Nice throw, especially since you couldn't see me." The woman said in a throaty voice and Farn looked at her face, which was covered by large wrap around shades. She moved easily in the darkness and Farn figure that the shades were night vision glasses, probably info red to.

"I won't miss this time." Farn said as he threw out another blade that would have found its mark in her neck if she hadn't calmly lifted a hand and stopped it, the tip bare millimetres from her neck. Seeing that he'd once again missed Farn raised an eyebrow slightly, this was getting interesting. "Do you believe in God?" Farn asked in a reasonable voice with just a hint of excitement. It had been so long since he'd shed the blood of a worth opponent, she was proving to be such an opponent.

"Promises, promises and yes, I do believe in him." Mike said with a smile in her voice as she made her way closer, her stride never faltering as she showed no fear despite the fact that he'd thrown three knives at her in under two minutes. "Well this is a surprise." She said under her breath as she looked at the man who was regarding her with the look of a hunter who'd found its prey. Sexy was one of Crawford's men; given the choice of weapon she was probably looking at the infamous Beserker and found the idea both amusing and slightly exciting. Now that she knew who he was this put a whole new twist on things. Of course now she'd have to pretty much give up on trying to hook up with the guy later but pitting her strength against his would definitely be-simulating to say the least. "So will you be calling Mastermind or are you going to try to take me on by yourself?" She purred and she smiled a bit wider when she watched him stand up, straight and tall looking incredibly sexy with that mysterious eyepatch and that look in his eye that she could see so clearly now that they were slightly less then a meter apart.

"I won't need him." Farn said with a smile that taking yet another blade from his boot pulled it out and watched her pull a bald of her own from the lovely collection she appeared to have within her jacket. "Shall we?" Farn inquired as he moved to circle her, not surprised when she did the same so that they were walking in a circle around each other, both with blades and the obvious knowledge of how to use them.

"Lets." Mike said with a smile and then pounced.

"Where the hell is he?" Schudich wondered out loud as he kept glancing the way Farn had left, expecting him to appear at any moment. But he wasn't appearing and so instead he tried to pick up on his team mates emotions and when he finally did he was insulted by a barrage of thoughts. Farn was locked in combat with a Goddess, blood drawn on both sides. Seeing the fight in his eyes Schudich made to move towards them at a dead run when an arrow whizzed by his face, slicing across his face to imbed its self into the building beside it. A stream of red appearing across his cheek Schudich only had time to turn before four more arrows flew at him, one catching him in each shoulder, missing bone but none the less shooting pain all down his body till he thought he might pass out. The other two pinned his arms back and into the wall so that he couldn't even pull the arrows out. Looking up at them with eyes clouded by pain he tried to get into the mind of any of the three women calmly standing in front of him, one of them calmly lowering the crossbow that had sent the arrows spinning and into his flesh.

"I wouldn't bothering trying to control us, we already knew about your little ability and compensated for it." One of the women said with a cold look on her face as her hand continued to rest on a blade strapped to her side, similar to what Abyssinian carried. "As long as we have these shades on your weapon of choice is useless."

"Maybe, but not all of them." Schudich grounded out, his teeth grinding together as he refused to show how much pain he was in. "Look behind you." He added and watched as the girls turned to see several of the crates whizzing towards their heads. "Brought to you by the Prodigy."

Dodging the crates as much as possible one managed to catch Tori in the side and another would have hit her directly in the head had Jesse not got in front of her and with a slice of her blade slices the crate into several manageable pieces. Another nearly hit her while she was swinging the blade back but was stopped when near invisible thread suddenly wrapped itself around the crate and pulled it backwards. The crates coming to a sudden halt both sides turned to see four figures making their way out of the darkness, Jesse feeling her heart freeze as she caught sight of the tallest one, his katana out and ready to use. Ran.

  



	6. First Meeting of Three

Disclaimer: Hi, as always own nothing but the plot and the original characters.  Sorry this hasn't been updated in so long but since so few pple were reading it I turned my attention to those that were for a while.  Anyway hope you enjoy and have a great day.

First Meeting of Three

In the moment that she realized it was Ran she was staring at Jesse froze, it was as if she couldn't move or think at all, paralyzed at the sight.  A box coming straight at her head it would have hit her had Chris not gotten in the way just in time to deflect it with a piece of a crate.  Blinking out of her stupor Jesse saw that it was not only Ran who walked towards them so casually and carefully but all the boys from the flower shop.

"Omi." Tori whispered and Jesse thought ironically that Danny couldn't call the kid a sissy mommy's boy anymore.  If they were Weiss, as she was betting they were, Omi was far from a sniveling kid.  It made sense too..she'd always known that if given the chance Ran would kill Takatori.  Looks like he had.

"No way, I don't believe it." Danny said, trying hard to process the fact that not only had they been set up here but that all the guys from the flower shop were here as well and they were armed and looking like they were here to fight.  And there were four of them, the one in charge, Ran carrying his kanta, the supposed favored weapon of the leader of the assassin group known as Weiss.  Standing on the roof of the building they had been taking the crates from Danny had discovered that the crates were empty, they had been set up and it would appear that they'd underestimated their opponents.  And now this little bomb to add to it.  "Oh shit." Danny said loudly then sucking in air quickly yelled down to her sisters.  "It's a trap, the crates are empty, lets get out of here."

"Damn, lets get out of here, Nemesis." Chris said since the guys were close enough to hear them now and even barely conscious Schudich could still be awake enough to remember things.

"Who are you?" Ran demanded to know as they watched what was going on.  His eyes quickly went from Schudich to the women who watched him quietly, their faces hidden by those shades, their eyes as well.  "Why are you here?"  They had received an anonymous tip that something was going down here tonight, they hadn't expected to meet up with anyone other then the bad guys.  They hadn't realized the party would be coed.

"We are the Goddesses, I am Artimis..Weiss." Chris said as she spoke up, afraid that perhaps Jesse could not or would give them away somehow.  "We were set up to come here, likely you as well.  Unless you wish to finish off Mastermind here I doubt there's anything you will find of interest here."

"You're the ones that came and took that family, what did you do with the Hondas?" Ken demanded to know, never taking his eyes off the three.  The one that had hollered from the roof had disappeared, he really wished he knew where they were.

"They're safe, the police wouldn't have been able to protect them.  With us they are assured that he will make it to the trial date." Jesse finally managed to say as she found her voice again.  After all she was the head of the family, it was her job to be in control, to take care of the others under her command.  She'd been trained better then this.  "Now if you'll excuse us, we have to be going.  Pressing a button on the side of her shades Jesse spoke quietly under her breath, words relaying to all the Goddesses thought it was aimed at Mike.  "Time to go, Hecate."  With that Jesse pulled out a small round object from her pocket and pulling out the ring through it into the air, gray smoking rising from it as the Goddesses made their exit to the meeting point where they would wait for Hecate and Athena to join them.

Meanwhile

Breathing heavily Mike barely heard her sister's words though her brain registered them and she processed it to mean that her time with Beserker had come to an end..for the time being.  Circling each other once more Mike pouted slightly at the fact that she was being interrupted when she was having so much fun but rules were rules, only some were meant to be broken.  "I have bad news for you, Darling." Mike said as she purred, enjoying watching his chest heave up and down as hers was.  "But I have to be going."

"Eager for me to send you to your God, Hecate?" Farn asked with a predator gleam as they continued to circle, having no intention of losing her any time soon.  It was like she was a drug, pumping through his veins so that he felt more alive and happy then he could ever remember.  Even just looking at her, watching the way she moved, like a cat on the prowl stirred his blood.  It was a whole new experience and one he wanted to continue and looked like he would since they were so perfectly matched.  It was like they'd been facing off for years, anticipating each other so perfectly it had become more of a deadly dance with blades then a fight.  Poetry in motion if he were being fanciful.  He didn't even want to kill her anymore, he just wanted the fight to go on forever until they both died together.

"You think you can, Sugar?" Mike asked as she gave him another one of her sassy smiles that Farn didn't find half as annoying anymore.  "You've been saying that for a while now."

"Well you've proven to be more of a challenge then I'd given you credit for." Farn said with a slight grin of his own, an extreme rarity for him.  Then again he rarely had anything worth showing any emotion over.

"Oh I don't think either of us will be meeting him tonight, Sugar." Mike said with a husky laugh, enjoying his accent and the way it had become more and more pronounced as the fight continued.  "I can't wait till we meet again." Then reaching into her pocket Mike pulled out a twin of the smoke bomb Jesse had used and throwing it minus the pin left in a cloud of gray smoke.

Swatting away the smoke Farn growled low in his throat when he saw that she was gone as well as the fact that the smoke had stung his eye slightly.  Searching the area he found nothing but a single blade that had gone into a tree trunk when she'd thrown it, imbedded pretty deep so that he had to use most of his weight to pull it out.  Holding the elegant blade in his hands he looked at it for a moment before returning it to his boot before going off to find out what Schudich and Nagi were up to.  Walking around he stared in amazement at the sight before him.  There were broken crates everywhere around the truck they'd been watching over, and he was greeted by the sight of Nagi walking towards him mentally carrying a very limp and dead looking Schudich.  "What the bloody hell happened here?" Farn demanded to know, his accent thick enough to cause Nagi to look at him curiously.

"Goddesses, they shot him up with arrows.  He lost some blood but he should live and be back to normal shortly.  Weiss showed up as well, I lifted Schudich out of their sight and reach, they left when they couldn't find us or the Goddesses who used a smoke bomb to disappear on us.  Where the hell were you?" Nagi demanded to know once they were walking towards the car that they'd come in.

"One of the Goddesses kept me busy." Farn replied feeling only a little sorry that he had missed out on a fight with Weiss.  Hecate had been far more of a challenge then any of those idiots could ever hope to pose though.

"Figures.  And it looks like one of them is a hacker and a fairly good one, their only mistake was in underestimating my abilities with a computer." Nagi said as he turned his attention to the matter at hand while being careful to keep the redheaded idiot in the air as well.  "They went deep enough to find out about this shipment but missed out on the more important stuff.  The thing is Farn..those crates were empty."

"What do you mean they were empty?  Why the hell were we watching them if they were empty?" Farn wanted to know as he tried to figure it out.  "If it was a trap they would have told us-Crawford would have told us." Farn changed since he didn't trust the people they worked for overly.

"I don't think they bothered to tell Crawford." Nagi said in a cool tone as he looked over at Farn who looked back at him knowingly.  "I don't think he'll be pleased when we tell him."

"I don't doubt it." Farn said with a shake of his head.  "This is really going to piss him off."

Later

"You mean to tell me that the guys from the flower shop are Weiss?" Mike said, her jaw practically on the floor.  Boy the men in her life had some strange night jobs.  First Sexy and now Ran and the other members of the hot flower guys association.  "Well there's an unexpected turn of events."

"You're telling me.  My money is on Omi being Bombay, I mean he doesn't look like the type to have the guts to strangle someone, darts are more impersonal plus I doubt he'd have the strength for it." Danny said as she sat on their couch beside Chris as they all watched Mike being patched up from her time with Farn.  "You look kinda like you got attacked by a cat, Mike.  None of those are really deep but there's a fair amount of them."

"Normally I could say you should see the other guy but I don't think I got him much better." Mike said with a grin as she titled her head so Tori could put some of her cream stuff on a cut on Mike's neck.  "So Ran is the leader, Abyssinian.  I suppose that makes sense though where the other three fit in I have no clue."

"I don't remember them from high school and Omi's too young to have hung out with Ran's crowd and he didn't start mentioning them till he started working at the flower shop." Jesse said thoughtfully as she pondered things.  "Maybe they were recruited by Kakatori's brother, the head of police like they say on the streets though I can't see Ran putting his lot in with anyone with the last name Takatori.  I guess if Omi is Bombay and Ran Abyssinian then Ken must be Siberian and Yoji Balinese."

"Maybe he didn't know, I doubt that Shuichi Takatori would advertise what he was doing if he was behind it." Chris pointed out as she watched her twin carefully while Tori tended to her.  Mike was in remarkably good shape given the reputation Beserker had.  "But he's dead, I wonder who's running them now."

"Not the new chief of police that's for sure." Danny said with a roll of her eyes at the thought.  As if.   "I guess this means we might be meeting up with them a lot in the near future huh?" Danny added looking over at Jesse, something the sisters had been doing a lot of.

"I suppose so, time will tell." Jesse said with a sigh as she leaned back in her chair, thinking and planning in silence while the others did the same.

The next day

Crawford was not in a good mood and that was putting it mildly.  Marching into the elevator his eyes were solid ice as he did his best to hold in his temper wanting very much to find his boss, take out his gun and pump the asshole full of lead.  How dare he, how dare that son of a bitch not tell him it was a set up, that there was nothing of value for his men to protect?  He had the right to know.  At the ping that signaled that he had arrived on his floor Crawford marched out of it and headed towards his office with long strides that faltered slightly when he saw his secretary already at her desk, her head bent slightly as she typed away rapidly at her computer.  Looking down at his watch he had to give her points for being willing to show up according to his schedule, he'd always got whining and complaining for it usually.  She looked all fresh and efficient to, not at all like she'd just dragged herself out of bed and out the door.  As if she'd sensed his presence she looked up from the computer and smiled at him in a way that had Crawford blinking at her in surprise.  It wasn't a professional hello sir kind of smile but a nice to see you smile, and a genuine looking one at that.  Not sure exactly how to respond to that since no one ever really looked happy to see him Crawford simply nodded his head.  

"Good morning, Mr. Crawford, lovely day." Chris said as she got to her feet, noticing that the anger that had been radiating off of him was fading as he got control over it.  Obviously he wasn't pleased about something at all.  "Is something wrong?" Chris asked putting concern into her voice though she had a good idea he was simply pissed off because he hadn't caught them yesterday or learned anything else about them.

"I've been better." Crawford said with a forced blank look, surprised that she'd noticed before heading towards his office door.  Stepping in he found a pile of paperwork all neatly piled on his desk, waiting for his signature and look over.  Amazing, she was actually efficient and got the work done quickly, Crawford thought as he skimmed over the papers, impressed by her work.  Hearing his door open he raised an eye as she came in with a cup of what smelled like freshly brewed coffee and a container similar to the one she'd had before.  Setting them down on the desk she smiled politely before heading out of the room without so much as making a sound.  Turning his attention to the latest things to arrive at his desk Crawford drank some of the actually consumable and well brewed coffee before opening the lid of the container to find it full of carefully cut fruit once more though minus the cantaloupe that he had skipped the day before as he hated the stuff.  Oh she was good, very good. 

"Well at least I know a bit about this Artimis person." Omi said to the guys as he brought an illustration on the screen that had information on the side of it in pretty scroll.  The picture showed a woman with brown hair all bundled at the back of her head wearing barely there clothing while holding a bow, animals all around her.  " She's from Greek Mythology obviously, the daughter of Zeus and Leto as well as being last of the Three Virgin Goddesses. She's considered the goddess or the hunt as well as the moon.  Her twin brother was Apollo and apparently she could be quite vicious when it came to protecting her family  She was also known as Diana in Roman mythology."

"So in other words odds are these women took their names from various Greek Goddesses." Ken said with a considering look.  "I remember reading a book once on the various legends, the gods and goddesses of Greece were not someone to mess with."

"What about Nemesis, the leader's name?" Ran asked as he read more about Artimis over Omi's shoulder.  "Find anything on her?"

"Not much actually though she was important." Omi said as he pressed some more buttons to show a woman holding a sword and looking quite threatening.  "She was the right hand of Zeus and the goddess of righteous anger.  She dealt out happiness and brought bad fortune to those who did evil.  Definitely not someone you want to mess with.  Right up there with the Othera."

"Who was that?" Yoji asked curiously, having never study any of this stuff as far as he knew.  Of course he'd slept through a lot of his classes.

"She's not considered a major goddess either, minor at best but she was the mother of the Amazons and lover of Ares which means she was not a woman to be trifled with."

"Ares, wasn't he the god of war?" Ken asked, some of what he'd read coming back to him.  "Seems to me that guy slept around a lot too and what were Amazons, monsters?"

"Oh they all did, fidelity wasn't a big thing with these gods." Omi said with a shake of his head at some of the stories he'd read while he'd searched. "And Amazons were a race or warrior women, basically they broke the men then were involved with and forced them to do what some would call women's work while they took on the male role like hunting, fighting and such.  War, hunting, agriculture and training young Amazon girls were their main pursuits."

"And how much you wanna bet the other ones are just as bad." Ran said with a shake of his head.  "We already have the Goddess of the Hunt and the Goddess of Righteous Anger, I'm willing to bet that if these women live up to their names whoever ends up their enemy is going to be in for a very bad end."  
  



	7. Surrounded by Girls

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the usual stuff like my original characters and the plot, everything else is owned by someone else.  Thanks for reading and please review to let me know what you think and suggestions are always welcome.

Surrounded by Girls

Nagi sat in the chair from before then bowed his head as he looked towards the ground, his mind full of other things.  He'd almost skipped the damn study but he doubted he'd be able to participate if he missed the first day of study plus Danny might think he'd chickened out.  Not that the girl's opinion mattered all that much but he didn't like the idea of her thinking a little mental anxiety scared him.  Though how he was going to keep his mind on anything but his meeting with the Goddesses was an answer that eluded him.  Of course he hadn't met them up close and personal but close enough to get a sense that they now had two truly formidable enemy groups after them.  Schuldich was pissed off, had cursed Nagi out good when he'd regained consciousness, after all it was Nagi who had caused the accident that had effected Schudich's mental gifts, lessening them so that he could no longer read others the way he once had.  He could if he pushed himself but he always got terrible headaches afterwards.  His anger over Tots near death had effected all his comrades though they had chosen to keep him around regardless, Nagi thought bitterly.  For Farn it had been positive changes, the man becoming more in control so that he was a better assassin and required less over seeing.  The brush with death had apparently given him some sort of wake up call.  Crawford's visions also came more frequently and yet were more jumbled, less easy to understand then before.  And of course Schuldich, who'd gotten hit in the head with a falling beam was the one who considered himself cheated and had become more violent as he couldn't depend on his mind powers as he once had.  Farn goes less violent, Schuldich more violent, Nagi thought with a sigh and wondered just what was in store for him once he got home.  Crawford would likely stay at work until late and Farn wasn't the nursemaid type which meant Nagi was going to have see to Schuldich, not an appealing thought at all.  Well at least with his telekinesis he could always stop anything hurled at his head, Nagi told himself bitterly.

"I swear to God I am never, ever going to get married." A female voice said, breaking Nagi's thoughts as he turned his head to look at Danny as she practically threw her backpack on the floor, taking her chair with a dark look as she leaned forward, her elbows in the table as she used her hands as a chin brace.  "Who needs them anyway?  Dogs are so much better and you can train them." 

Since he was pretty sure the question hadn't been aimed at him Nagi didn't comment though he was curious as to what had caused her to say what she had.  Perhaps she'd had a fight with her boyfriend?  Not that she really struck him as the type to  date much, she had thing aura around her that was like a giant sign that said don't mess with her or else.

"Hi." Danny bit off, finally realizing that Nagi was there and that she should probably at least say hello to the guy.  After all it wasn't Nagi who'd pissed her off and it wouldn't be fair to take out her anger on an innocent bystander.

"Hi." Nagi said feeling a hint of a smile threaten to appear at the look on her angry face.  It was obvious that she wanted to throw something or worse but was trying to rein it in having more then a bit of difficulty doing it too.  "Bad day so far?" Nagi hazard to guess, thinking that asking was probably the polite thing to do.  Besides the professor would be there any minute and then they wouldn't be able to talk even if they wanted to.  Not that he wanted to talk to Danny, but he didn't want people bothering him because he was so anti social.  After all he'd only be able to take so much before he'd give them what they deserved which would only get him in trouble with Crawford and cause questions he didn;t want to answer.

"You could say that." Danny said with a sigh, lifting her head to sit up straight, turning her head to face him.  "Sorry, this hasn't been the greatest couple of days, no excuse for taking it out on you though."

"No problem, I've been there." Nagi said with a nod and he most certainly had.  He'd been in plenty of situations where he'd just wanted to explode with his anger but had to hold it in because once unleashed he was deadlier then any of the other guys he worked with.  Worse because he lost complete control of himself and without control..his powers could destroy everything in his path no matter who or what it was.  The fact that he hadn't caused anymore damage then he had in the past was a miracle in itself.  Had he even a little less control lord only knows how much blood he would have spilt by now, especially those who had tormented him over the years because he was different though most had only had a small idea of just how different he was.

"All right everyone, settle down please." The professor in charge said as he took his place in front of the large room.  Waiting until everyone had quieted down sufficiently the professor continued, talking a bit about himself and going over the perimeters of the assignment, giving them a better understanding of the study now that it was just those who would participate in the room.  Running through his speech the professor decided to get a better idea of the people he was dealing with.  "Okay, before we begin I'd like to ask you all some questions and I'd like you to be as honest as possible despite the fact that you're surrounded by your peers and I know that's a guaranteed deterrent.  First off this project is all about the abilities of the mind and how it can do extraordinary things under certain circumstances.  Now has anyone here ever seen an example of someone doing something that would be an example of great mind ability and I don't mean doing really well on tests or anything like that.  I mean doing something that most couldn't by using their brains?"

Nagi figured that it was taking a great deal of his control not to laugh at the very idea.  Oh boy the stories he could tell that would have turned the professor as white as the older man's hair.  Wonder what Mr. Scientist would say or do if I made his desk fly around the room as an example of just what the mind was capable of doing.  Blinking when he realized the professor was looking right at them Nagi turned his head to see Danny with her hand up just as the professor asked her to tell them about it.

"Well it happened a couple of years ago, I didn't see it but my sisters told me about it." Danny said figuring that there was no harm in telling the story and it really wasn't that big a deal all in all.  "My father was in the army and my sisters and I went to a military school for most of our teen years.  Anyway one of the training exercise was to climb this cliff that was near the school and one June afternoon my sister Mike's class was scheduled to do some cliff climbing.  They set up and started climbing, my sister was towards the end because she'd decided to stay closer to one of her classmates who had a thing about heights and so she'd promised to stick by him just in case. So they were almost to the top when something went wrong with the hooks and his line started to give and my sister who was right beside him  moved over and grabbed his hand just as the rope gave.  The line was designed to take the weight but the only thing attaching him to the line was my sister's grips on his hands.  My sister held him for a whole two minutes despite the fact that he was around two hundred and thirty pounds of pure muscle and she had never been able to handle near that about of weight in the weight room.  After Mike said it was like there had been nothing but her and Joe, that her mind had switched off her awareness of everything but keeping a grip on him and not letting go.  After my sister went back to the weight room and couldn't manage even close to his weight."  Danny finished with a shrug, though she'd always thought that was the coolest part about the whole thing.  "She's never been able to understand how she did it."

An hour later

"God I hate questionnaires." Danny complained as she and Nagi packed up to leave.  Most of what they'd done that day was viewed a movie on the mind and filled a bunch of questionnaires about their histories and opinions on a bunch of things that all seemed annoyingly similar.  "So where are you off to now?  Home?"

"Yeah, I suppose." Nagi said with a shrug as he shifted his pack on his left shoulder as he and Danny joined the remaining people heading down.  As neither of them were ever in any hurry to get out right away they both had waited for the majority of the others to leave first.  "Nothing else to do."

"Hey, there you are." Nagi and Danny turned to see a girl that looked enough like Danny for Nagi to imagine that this was the sister Omi had been hanging around with before.  The one Omi was interested in, Nagi thought with a small smirk.  She was pretty, he could see why the kid was interested in her.  "How did it go?  Is this the boy I saw you with before?  Hi I'm Tori." Tori said with a bright smile as she held out her hand, Nagi taking it reluctantly.  Her smile was so bright and happy, like she'd just won the lottery, Nagi thought blinking slightly at all that happiness and goodwill directed at him.

"This is Nagi Nao." Danny said shaking her head at the both of them.  Poor Nagi looked just a touch overwhelmed.  "My sister and yeah I'm ready to go." Danny added just in case he hadn't got the sister part. 

"Nice to meet you." Nagi said not knowing what else to say.  It was very rare for people to smile at him, much less look absolutely thrilled to meet him.

"I'm so glad I got to meet you, it's always nice to meet new people." Tori said with a warmer smile.  The boy's eyes were so sad, Tori thought sadly, her mothering instincts kicking in to full gear.  He hid it well but she could sense the sadness in him, making her want to pull him in a hug and tell him it was going to be okay now.  Whatever had put that sadness in there had rooted deep and already she was planning how to get Danny to become good friends with Nagi so she'd have a chance to mother him.

"Well we shouldn't keep him, he's on his way home." Danny said, knowing that look in her sister's eyes all too well.  Like her sister she could sense the sadness under Nagi's cool calmness but unlike her sister she respected his right to be left alone which is what she got the feeling he'd prefer.  "And we're going to be late if we don't hurry."

"Oh, I guess your mother will be at home with lunch all ready to go." Tori said with a smile, thinking no such thing or that at least if there was she wasn't a very good mother.  "We shouldn't keep you."

"No, there's no one waiting for me at the house." Nagi said with a shake of his head, no idea why he'd felt the need to correct her.  It was her eyes, there was something about them that made him want to talk to her if only to keep her near a while longer.  It wasn't a crush thing though, it was more that things seemed less dark with her there to brighten it up.  Besides he would bet the only one who would care at all that he was home was Schudich and that was because he'd be available to boss around.

"Well then why don't you join us for lunch?" Tori said with another bright smile, thrilled with the way that had worked out.  She'd notice that it was house, not home and he obviously held no affection for it or possibly didn't even want to be there.  "Danny and I are meeting out sisters for lunch and there's five of us so that's an odd number, with you there that will even things up.  Plus we'd love some male company for a while and it will be our treat.  Were going for the all you can eat buffet." Tori added with a wink, not about to take no for an answer.  "Apparently their cake is to die for."

Twenty minutes later

Nagi wasn't sure exactly how it had happened that he was walking with Tori and Danny flaking him on either side as they walked through a restaurant as they headed for the table the girls had reserved.  Part of it was that this restaurant was famous for its seafood and would be ten times whatever he cooked up for himself back at the house.  Another part was that Tori had so obviously wanted him to come and he hadn't wanted to make her unhappy by refusing.  Which was crazy because he'd only just met her, she meant nothing to him.  He was more fond of Danny then he was of Tori but that hadn't mattered one little bit.  So now he was here and there was no way he was getting away.

"There they are." Tina said as she waved over at a table where Nagi could see three other women, all bearing resemblance to Tori and Danny, each more beautiful then the next.  A bit shell shocked Nagi didn't even notice that Danny gave him a slight push to start him moving again.  "Hey everyone, this is Nagi, he's Danny's friend from class.  Nagi this is Jessie, Mike and Chris." Tori said pointing to each girl in turn.

"Glad you could join us." Chris said with a nod of her head.  Tori had phones ahead to say they were bringing a friend and Chris was glad to see that Danny had made a friend.  Though she would imagine Tori had been the one to drag the poor boy along.  "I hope your hungry, the food smells delicious and Mike deliberately asked for a seat by the buffet to tempt us."

"Shorter walk, nice to meet you, I hope they didn't twist your arm too hard to come." Mike added with a wink.  Where Chris reminded Nagi of the sophisticated ladies you saw in magazines and at fancy parties Mike struck him more as a party, have a good time kind of girl but in a nice way.  Ushered into a seat beside the one called Jessie Nagi thanked them for having him.  Once the waiter came by they ordered their drinks and then hit the buffet where Nagi got another shock.  In his limited experience with women they tended to eat like birds in fear of gaining a pound or two.  Obviously these five girls didn't think so since they were all loading their plates up until there was no room left, similar to his own plate since he was a growing teenage boy and had become a bottomless pit.  Joining them back at the table he was surprised that even though they were in a restaurant they insisted on giving thanks which he went along with, even though he'd long stopped believing in the God Farn hated so much.  After that everyone dug in and Nagi experienced for the first time what it was like to eat with a happy family.  One where casual insults and stupid stories were told, where there was talk about foolish things that didn't matter to anyone but them.  And they talked to him, asking him questions like his age, where he'd grown up, what he liked to do.  Hedging on things Nagi had a feeling they knew it but they didn't push, simply backing off and continuing to treat him like he belonged there with them.  And it was nice, Nagi thought as he sipped his water.  Even if it would never last.

An hour and a half later

Nagi walked up the steps to the three story house that they were living in for the time being.  The house was in good condition and like most of the houses in the quiet and sparse neighborhood.  The only difference was who was living inside the house that set them apart.  Using his key Nagi unlocked the door and headed in, locking the door behind him.  Heading down the hallway Nagi opened the door down to the basement and heading down found Farn in his room, sitting on the couch there with a book in his hand as he read.  Hearing the boy of course Farn looked up from his book.  "Where were you?" Farn asked though his face revealed nothing.  The boy often came and went without warning but usually he called to let someone know and the kid should have been back a while ago by his estimate.

"Lunch." Nagi said with a shrug, not about to go into any more detail then that.  "I should have called, I'm sorry."

"No need to be.  Schudich is in a piss poor mood, you'll be wanting to stay out of his way." Farn said as hr lowered his head once more to continue his reading.  "Crawford will be coming home early tonight, in time for dinner apparently.  It's your day to cook isn't it?" 

"Yes, I was thinking that I'd make spaghetti, I found a recipe for sauce that sounds good." Nagi said speaking of one of Crawford's favorite foods.  "That okay with you."

"Sounds good." Farn replied in a distant voice indicating he was done talking and that any more chatter was liable to get on his nerves.

"Okay." Nagi said as he turned on his heels and headed back upstairs to prepare dinner and make sure that they had everything he needed.


	8. Kinds of Family

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the plots presented in my fics which I feverishly copyright. Thanks to all those who've been reading this fic and others and I hope you'll cont to do so as well as review. Thanks. 

Note: I can't seem to make my paragraphs stay paragraphs so the dots are there to separate the text where there should be spacing -- sry bout that. 

Kinds of Family 

Crawford arrived at the house that night in a surprisingly good mood considering that Schudich was on the injured list for a while now and wouldn't be of any use for a while. He was still pissed off by the fact that they'd been set up along with the Goddess and Crawford had made it quite clear that he wouldn't stand for it to happen again or he'd leave them to take care of the whole problem by themselves which was exactly what they'd done. The Goddess problem had now been assigned to the Boss's idiot son and Crawford couldn't wait to see how badly the boy screwed things up. The little prick was a spoiled hothead and was capable of running a bake sale much less a covert operation against trained killers. Of course said prick was also dangerous with the tendency to blame his mistakes on others, Crawford knew he'd have to be careful. But for once he was actually here for dinner and didn't have to work after the meal, a heavenly idea that had him picturing a long hot bath and going to bed early with a good book. Thanks to his genius secretary, Crawford admitted as he opened the door to the heavenly smell of something cooking. Chris went through paperwork like nothing he'd ever seen and he was already trying to figure out how to fire his other secretary and convince Chris to continue working for him. Shouldn't be too hard if he offered to raise her salary, Crawford thought as he nearly hummed under his breath as he walked into the kitchen to find Nagi stirring something. It was kinda nice to come to the house to do something other then work or sleep. He was getting old, Crawford thought as he listened to what he was thinking. 

O 

"Oh hey, supper will be ready in five minutes." Nagi said as he turned around to find Crawford deep in thought. He hadn't really thought Crawford would actually follow through and be there for dinner but turns out he'd managed it. "Schudich apparently isn't up to coming downstairs so I just sent Farfarello up with some soup for him. I figured spaghetti with meatballs wasn't something you should eat when you're not well enough to leave your room." Nagi said with a hint of a smile. In other words if Schudich was going to treat everyone like his servant since he was "too ill" to do the things himself Nagi was going to get in his punches where he could. 

"Quite right." Crawford said, the idea appealing to him more because that meant more spaghetti for him then because odds were Schudich deserved to miss out on said meal. He was well aware that Schudich could be quite the royal pain in the ass when he was sick or injured. "How was your class today?" Crawford asked, noting Nagi's surprise at the question. He was legally Nagi's guardian but he supposed other then feeding and clothing the boy he didn't go out of his way to be any sort of father figure. Then again his father had set a lousy example so Crawford doubted he'd do a very good job had he ever bothered attempting to act the part. But in his way he did care about the boy, he probably should at least make an effort to ask the kid about his day now and then. Probably. And at least he usually knew where Nagi was and what he was doing, how many fathers could say that about their kids? 

"It was okay..I went out to lunch with the girl I sit beside and her sisters. Danny 's older sister Tori railroaded me into it and it was a free meal..I offered to pay but they wouldn't let me." Nagi said quickly, knowing what Crawford would say about him about him letting a girl pay for him. Despite what Crawford was he was still a gentleman in many ways and had drilled into Nagi's head that a man was never to let a woman pay for him and that he was suppose to pay for the girl. Only Nagi didn't have enough to cover six meals even had they let him. Normally he wouldn't even tell Crawford he'd gone out to lunch with a bunch of girls but the restaurant was classy enough that someone who'd seen them there might mention it to Crawford and then he'd be in trouble for not mentioning it. "And then I came straight back here and did my chores and homework." Nagi added, referring to the work Crawford brought home for him to do. Most of it was accounting and researching stuff that was boring but Crawford paid him for it and the money came in handy. "And Danny gave Omi a black eye, she's also beat up this huge football jock type and she's just a little thing." 

O 

"This friend of yours gave him a black eye? And she's a girl?" Crawford said with a hint of a smile, enjoying the idea of the youngest Takakori getting beaten up by a girl. "Interesting. Why did she do that? Because of you?" Crawford wondered, thinking perhaps Nagi had had words with the boy and this Danny had rushed to Nagi's defense. He'd never heard Nagi mention this Danny before and she didn't sound anything like Tot at least which was a good thing. He'd imagine that empty headed doll would have run from anything resembling a real fight. The empty headed twit. 

"Yeah, her full name is Danielle but everyone calls her Danny. And no the fight wasn't about me though she really dislikes Omi now and can't even stand the sight of him. He interfered when she was beating up the football player and she let him have it for interrupting." Nagi said, pleased that Crawford seemed pleased. Looking at his sauce Nagi realized it was ready and quickly leaned over to turn down the heat. "Supper's ready." 

"She sounds like an interesting girl. I'll bring in the noodles, you can take the sauce in." Crawford said, already picking up the strainer and heading for the sink to drain the noodles, not even seeing Nagi's shocked look. Transferred the sauce into a bowl and stuck a spoon into the bowl, carrying it into the dinning room Nagi didn't quite know what to think. Boy must Crawford have had a good day, Nagi thought as he set the bowl down and wondered if maybe this new secretary Schudich had mentioned would continue to make Crawford come home in a good mood. And what would it be like if he did? 

O 

Meanwhile 

At the store they'd purchased the Langston sisters were sitting in the middle of the room on a blanket eating take out as they discussed how they were going to decorate the room. They'd decided to sell books, knickknacks and herbs at the store with a decidedly magical and mystical theme to it. Jesse was in charge of the book area while the herbs were Mike and Tori's area for sure which left the knickknacks under Chris and Danny's supervision even though everyone would take turns helping out there and in the book area since Chris had another job and Jesse did have to put effort into winning Ran back. It was going to be quite a cool store they all agreed and though it might flop they were having fun anyway which was what was important. All five girls were independently well off thanks to the trust funds left to them from their mother's sister. The woman had unfortunately died with her husband in a car crash five years ago and had surprised everyone when it came to light that she and her husband had left half their estate to their nieces as they'd had no children of their own and been very fond of the girls. Of course the girls would rather have had their aunt and uncle back then the money but since they hadn't been given the choice they were determined to put the money to good use. And their aunt would love the store and would have been one of their best customers, that was enough to make them confident in their choice. They had bought the building outright so at least if they crashed and burned they could regain a lot of their losses selling the prime real estate as Chris had pointed out. 

O 

"So how come you didn't tell us your Nagi was so cute, Danny?" Mike wanted to know as sipped from her pop can, debating over helping herself to some of Chris's fries while Chris was distracted talking to Jesse. "I mean that's one hot looking boy you've got sitting beside you in class, kid." 

"Maybe you should just drop the subject of Nagi before I poison you with your own herbs, Mike. And he's not my Nagi either." Danny said sticking her tongue out at Mike who simply grinned back, undeterred in the least by the threat. Mike had been bugging her about Nagi all day and Danny was just about ready to kick her sister's ass from there to Mars. It wasn't like that with Nagi, they were just friends In the loosest meaning of the word. She didn't even know anything about Nagi other then the few bits and pieces her sisters had squeezed out of him during lunch. If she liked him she'd have known that stuff already because she would have asked. But since she wasn't interested in him in that way she hadn't. So there. "And, Chris. Mike is about to steal some of your fries." Danny added just to be mean. 

"You suck." Mike said with a dark look as she moved her fork away from Chris's plate, Chris having turned around to give Mike a warning look. Taking food from Chris was never a good idea, she was real good at dishing out payback. "Speaking of you sister dear how is work going? Ready to use him for target practice yet?" 

"No, he's not that bad." Chris said with a shake of her head, smiling slightly as she acknowledged the fact most people would disagree with her. He expected a lot of everyone who worked under him but he worked just as hard as he made them, possibly even more so. He'd certainly put her through her paces today and they'd gotten an incredible amount of work done in the time they'd been at it. They'd both be able to take the night off with no paperwork and Chris was looking forward to it and she thought he had too. He really did work too hard though, Chris thought, her small smile turning to a frown. He pushed himself too much and needed to take better care of himself before he ended up in an early grave or with an ulcer. Not that he'd take it well if she pointed any of that out. He'd try to freeze her in her spot with one of his frowns then give her a lecture on how what he did or didn't do was none of her damn business. Exactly how their father had been when they'd tried to get him to take better care of himself, not that it had mattered in the end. In the end he'd met his maker due to bullet wounds, the killing one in the forehead. To go along with his two other minor strokes, Chris added mentally. Turning back to what was important Chris shook herself into awareness and continued. "If I didn't know any better I'd assume he was simply a young man working himself to death with no life outside his desk. He's very cool and in control but in a way he's a gentleman too. He's quite the enigma actually. It's impossible to read what's going on behind those eyes of his." She should know, she'd tried. 

"Yes well a simple workaholic would be a better life then the truth." Tori said with a sad shake of her head at Chris's description. "I wonder, if he seems not be so dastardly as one would think why does he do what he does?" 

O 

"My money would be on money." Jesse said, smirking at her own words before explaining her theory. "From what Chris has said and from what we've gathered I'd say that money is what drives Crawford as oppose to a love of violence or causing pain. To him I think it doesn't matter where the money comes from so long as it comes and to hell with what he has to do to get it. From what we know he is the head of Schwarz and just look at the other members of the group. They're all unique, have something that sets them apart from others and likely always had. There were others Crawford could have had join but he chose those three specifically and in my opinion because they were like him. Someone society would deem unnatural and unwanted. From the sounds of it Schudich is the only one that is in this for the sheer thrill of it, that it's more of a game then anything else to him. Farfarello some would argue is in it for the same but I think it's more then that. I think he stays out of loyalty otherwise why would he remain under Crawford's control, killing only the people he's ordered too. It's true that their speculation that he use to kill most anyone that struck him wrong but those rumors have mostly died and from our research we haven't found all that many deaths that could likely even be attributed to Psycho. And as for their resident telekinetic so few people have even seen him that some even question he exists and I think that's telling. Given his powers he could come in handy in plenty of situations but Crawford holds him back, hides him in the shadows. Why? Why do that when the kid would be one of the greatest weapons to man?" 

"Because he is just a boy," Chris said, seeing where Jesse was going and the theory pleased her more then it should have. But so sue her, her boss was growing on her even if he could sometimes be a real pain in the ass. "And Crawford is protecting him. That's why the boy is so rarely in the picture, because Crawford doesn't want him to be part of what they do. From what we've found Crawford has been putting all their money in banks and playing the stock market, stock piling their money and carefully making it grow. Maybe he's trying to give the kid the kind of future none of the rest of them had." 

O 

Later that evening 

"I can't believe that Jesse, Danny and the rest of them have moved back here, I can't wait to see them." Aya said with a beaming smile on her face as she sipped her milk as she sat eating cookies and milk with Ken and Omi. Ran had decided to turn in early and Yoji was out on a hot date so the three were alone to enjoy the late night treat. "Boy I wish I could have been there to see it, I bet you could have knocked Ran over with a feather." 

"So exactly how did you guys meet the Langstons?" Omi asked as he dipped his chocolate chip cookie into his milk before taking a big bite out of it. Aya sure had a hand when it came to cookies, Omi thought happily. "Did you know each other from school?" 

"Actually they lived next door to us for nearly a year." Aya said, her eyes going far away as she remembered it as clearly as if it were yesterday. "Ran was so different then in some ways, I wonder if Jesse even recognized him. When my brother was in high school he was involved in a lot of extracurricular activities and was pretty popular with the students and teachers even though he did tend to be quiet back then and stick with a small group of friends. But back then he smiled a lot more and even flirted occasionally though that was only if he meant it. Anyway it was almost the end of summer when they moved into the house next door and I can remember sitting on the ground with Mom pulling weeds when the van pulled up, watching one girl after another get out and line up against the side of the van. They were the colonel's small personal army and he stood before them and started issuing his orders as to who carried what and to where. He hadn't hired any movers, the girls did it all from boxes to furniture while he issued his commands. Needless to say my mom was horrified but I was too busy gapping at the fact that these girls could actually handle what they were being ordered to do. So we watched as we weeded then headed inside, my mom wanted to make them two pies as a welcome to the neighborhood sort of thing. She said those girls were liable to be starving and sore once they were done. But then a call came in to my mom that a friend of hers had been in a car accident so my mom raced off to the hospital and we didn't get to make and deliver the pies till the next day dragging Ran along with us. It was early afternoon and we were heading over when we heard sounds coming from the backyard so we headed there to find the girls trying to dig out this huge rock that had been in that backyard since as long as we'd lived there. It was huge and no one had yet to be able to shift it much less get rid of it but the colonel had given the orders that it was to be removed and it was therefore going to move come hell or high water. So they'd been working all morning digging around the rock and were now trying to figure out how to get some sort of netting under the rock that they could then wrap around the rock making it easier to pull out. Well if my mom was horrified before she was most certainly horrified now and tried to talk the girls out of it but no such luck. They weren't leaving the backyard till the rock was out of the hole and so my mom issued her own orders which was for Ran to help the girls out being the big, strapping boy that he was. Normally Ran would have likely dug in his heels at the idea but you've seen Jesse so you can imagine that the idea wasn't as unappealing as it normally would be. So he was enlisted into helping and damn if they didn't get that rock out of the hole and onto the lawn. Of course Ran spent the entire next day on his stomach whimpering over how much pain his back was in but once Tori descended upon him to shower him with cookies and other goodies for helping he got over it real quick." 

"Boy does their dad sound tough." Ken said making a face as he thought about the girls he'd met and trying to picture them doing such hard labor without much success. They just looked too female and delicate though he'd learned long ago how deceiving looks could be. "What was their mom like?" 

"I barely saw her actually." Aya said with a frown having never liked either of the parents in question though it was hard to decide which one she'd disliked more. "Their mother claimed to be delicate and was always going off on trips to get better or to visit people she knew though she never seemed really ill...just disgusted at the idea of having to actually lift a finger around the house. Personally my mom always said she couldn't take the colonel in large doses and so she'd use her health as an excuse to get out of the house and leave the girls with him. The colonel was a tough man and a bit of a control freak but he at least gave a damn about the well being of the girls and guarded them like they were his prized possessions. Maybe he would have rather had boys but they were still his children and they were devoted to him." 


End file.
